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Part 1, Chapter 3, Section 5
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
Liputin relays the story to Anton and Stepan about Varvara summoning him to ask about Nikolay. Liputin says that Varvara sent a servant the day before, asking him to see her. When Liputin arrived, Varvara went straight to the question. She asked whether, in Liputin’s opinion, Nikolay might have experienced a shift in ideas at some point. Liputin told her that he had no doubts about Nikolay’s mental capacities and supposed soundness of mind, but he couldn’t say the same about Nikolay’s character.
This passage reinforces a distinction in the novel between sanity and insanity. In the novel’s formulation, one is not responsible for the things one does while not “of sound mind.” If one is “sane,” though, then one’s actions show the nature of one’s character. In Liputin’s telling, Nikolay is responsible for his actions because he is sane, which means that any missteps or misdeeds are reflections of Nikolay’s character.
Themes
Liputin tries to get Aleksey to corroborate his opinion about Nikolay because Aleksey has known Nikolay for some time, but Aleksey says he doesn’t want to be involved in gossip. Liputin then implies that the man who has been sending payments to Lebyadkin for dishonoring Lebyadkin’s sister could be none other than Nikolay. He says that Nikolay entrusted a lady of high standing and an orphan (meaning Liza and Darya, respectively) with 1,000 roubles to give to Lebyadkin. Along the way, 700 roubles went missing, and Lebyadkin is now accusing Darya of stealing that money. Aleksey protests and says none of this is true and that it’s all a misunderstanding. He storms out of the room, and Liputin rushes to catch up to him.
Nikolay is further implicated in actions that go against prevailing views of morality and propriety. As Aleksey points out, though, at this point, Nikolay’s involvement with Marya and Lebyadkin is nothing more than a rumor. Notably, other rumors implicate Darya in misdeeds as well, including stealing money from Lebyadkin. Presenting those two rumors side by side reinforces the idea that the reader, at this point, doesn’t know what to believe and cannot know which, if either, of those rumors may be true.
Themes
