The Kerosene Cat

One of the angles for analysis I left out from my previous post was the ethical angle. I failed to mention how interesting it is to evaluate the actions of the characters from a moral standpoint. What is the true nature of evil in this story? It is more than arguable that Woland and Co. aren't really that horrible at all. (In fact, I rather like the cat...)

During a heated discussion about the moral behavior of the two seemingly clear *protagonists*, it was established that much of their behavior was reprehensible. It appears that The Master may have cooperated with the Regime to get his freedom. And his pessimistic behavior makes me wonder whether he, too, was suffering from a case of a pre-historic Inner Programmer. That would certainly explain some patterns in his behavior. Whatever the case may be, I found him a bit creepy, and all critical analyses aside, don't really find him very sympathetic. In fact, his major accomplishment seems getting saved. He's also very passive, which is one quality I absolutely can't STAND... so, I don't have a problem with considering him an antagonist.

Margarita, however, is a different matter, and although far from perfect, I wouldn't go as far as calling her an antagonist. I could argue for hours about it, and I would have, if I didn't have to leave. Some examples of questionable behavior:

1)Egotism and extreme love of comfort. She can't stand her husband, but prefers living with him rather than being free, but poor. Despite her promise to The Master to leave him, she returns home as soon as she finds out The Master is arrested. Thus, it seems, that only The Master motivates her enough to face discomfort. And despite not loving her husband, she pretends that everything is all right... Which makes her somewhat dishonest.

I have no issue with this, except that sometimes trying to break up with somebody you're very used to is much harder than it may appear. That's it.

2)Shamelessness - Margarita stayed undressed even after the Spring Ball was over. Doesn't that say anything about her character?

Er... Come on, it's not like she's naked in front of human beings. She's in front of a bunch of demons. And demons can see right through her anyway. So why bother? Besides, I'm not sure I wouldn't necessarily do the same in her situation... or some situation other than my own for that matter! No one can predict how we'll behave under conditions of extreme stress, and anyway, she had more important things to worry about than looking for her clothes.

3) "Betrayal" of The Master

I argued that choosing to save Frieda before saving The Master did not constitute betrayal per se. Margarita very much wanted to save him... but she knew that she was responsible for her promise to Frieda, and did not want to make it even worse for the sinner. Frieda was in a much worse situation than the Master. Her sin was much worse, as was her punishment. I'd say that morally, helping out someone who's in a more dire situation, is more important than saving someone whose situation is not quite so bad. Of course, I've never had to face such a situation, and can't predict which moral argument would actually take precedence in my mind, if I did. For now, however, I think that Margarita was completely justified and did not betray The Master through her action. She had to act according to her conscience.

The real question is: does personal relationship take priority over what would have been otherwise a very clear moral choice?

I argue that it doesn't. In fact, I would argue that it *would* have been extremely selfish of Margarita to ignore Frieda after she promised to help her. And irresponsible. In some ways, it's a no-win situation, but you have to choose the lesser of two evils.

But let's say, for the sake of the argument, that Margarita is every bit as no-good as The Master. That both of them are complete losers. That still doesn't resolve a very important question: what attracted them to each other? Their personalities are very different. Margarita is very active. *She* was the one who named The Master, she inspired him to publish his work and pushed him on and on through all the difficulties, she made a deal with the Devil in order to save him, she wore heavy, piercing metal bodice for an entire night, ignoring discomfort just to save him. She was the one who took the initiative throughout the novel. What did The Master do? He was her lover and he wrote a book. And got in trouble for it. The opposites are supposed to attract, but in this particular case, I don't see why that should have been the case. The Master didn't have anything to offer to Margarita except his talent (of questionable value, all things considered). So in what ways was he better than her husband?

Come on, I dare you. What is it that attracts lonely people to each other, other than their loneliness?