7-9 (Spanish Boot)

The events that occur in these three events are more coherent, without many jumps in time or space. In chapter 7, there are some mysterious things going on in the apartment, as the title "Sinister Apartment" suggests. Since two years ago, people randomly disappear without any reason, and the wives of Berlioz and Styopa both vanished within a month after they moved in. Then, Woland is sitting right next to Styopa when he wakes up extremely hung over. These three chapters, again, provoke the question of whether the Devil is capable of simply predicting the future or actually creating one. Woland claims that they signed a contract yesterday for seven performances at the theater, but Styopa "remembered absolutely nothing about a contract, and he was ready to stake his life that he had not seen this Woland yesterday." Woland shows him the tangible contract, and the financial manager confirms, but I feel like it is the Devil's deception. The devil trinity appears again in the next scene. The description of the tom cat holding "a glass of vodka in one paw and a fork in the other," along with the descriptions in Chapter 4, makes me think of him more as a human. I was a bit confused in the end of the chapter when the fourth visitor appeared, and Styopa was sent to Yalta. It appears like he was sent there because he was "behaving like a dreadful swine lately," according to Koroviev. But who are they to judge the wrongdoings of people when they themselves are Devils? It is interesting how Koroviev addresses Woland as "Messire," which shows significant similarity with "Messiah," which is used for a redeemer figure in Christianity (maybe Jesus).

Nothing significant happens in Chapter 8. From reading the chapter title "Duel between the professor and the poet," I assumed it would be a duel between the poet and Woland, professor of black magic, but turns out I was wrong. Stravinsky seems really smart. He doesn't assume the poet is crazy and listens to the entire story. However, noticing the lack of logic in the poet's thoughts and plans, the professor concludes in the end that he is crazy. The poet plans to run to the militia in underwear and tell the story of an acquaintance of Pontius Pilate. Honestly, even I would dismiss such man as crazy. Although I would like to believe he is actually normal, he seems obsessed with finding the Devil, which might have actually driven him insane.

Chapter 9 is very similar to Chapter 7, except the Devil is dealing with Ivanovich instead of Styopa. Luring him with large sums of money, reassuring him by saying "but where are the witnesses?” Koroviev hands him some rubles. The next event convinced me that the Devil can alter the future to some extent. Ivanovich clearly sees 400 rubles before hiding it, but somehow, they turned into dollars. How can that happen if it isn't the Devil's power? And how did Koroviev know that Ivanovich would wrap the money with newspaper and hide it in a ventilator flue of the toilet?
-Spanish Boot