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Part 1, Chapter 2, Section 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Demons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics and Self-Interest
Ideology and Extremism
Morality and Nihilism
Herd Mentality
Atheism vs. Belief in God
Summary
Analysis
Stepan spends the next week or so feeling acute shame. Beyond that, he can’t figure out whether he is actually engaged to Darya or not. Varvara refuses to see him and won’t answer his letters. He thinks that Varvara would have been angry if he didn’t accept the marriage but not as angry as she is now that he’s accepted. Anton is Stepan’s only confidant during that week. He grows increasingly annoyed with Stepan, especially because Stepan still has not gone to see the Drozdovs (Praskovya and Liza) as custom requires. Anton is especially bothered because he has become taken with Liza from a distance and knows that Stepan is the only route he has to get a formal introduction.
Stepan’s assertion that Varvara would have been angry if he didn’t accept the marriage but less angry than she is now shows the bind that Stepan is in. He is stuck between trying to please Varvara, which has angered her, and going against her wishes, which he thinks, ultimately, is what she actually wants in this case. As seems usual for Stepan, though, he sees no way out of the conundrum and instead dwells on the issues without acting.
Themes
