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Part 2, Chapter 9, Section 1
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
As Anton and Stepan leave Stepan’s house, a crowd of about 70 factory workers has gathered and is marching toward the governor’s office and the town square. They are protesting the actions of the factory manager, who recently shut down the factory without paying the workers their due wages. Anton doesn’t know how the rumor that the group of workers is a revolutionary mob gets started. He says that among the group, perhaps one or two—at most five—workers are revolutionaries. The police arrive, and someone goes to fetch the governor (Andrey) to make sure he comes.
The rumor that the factory workers are involved in revolutionary politics points again to the role that rumors play in the novel. Regardless of who created the rumor or why, the fact that the rumor exists points to the near-hysteria in town regarding the revolutionary faction. In that atmosphere, it’s easy for people to believe that a group marching to the governor’s office is part of a widespread plot to overthrow the government. It then makes it easy to dehumanize the workers, who just want the pay they’re due.
Themes
At the same time, at his house, Andrey gets into an enormous fight with Yuliya. More than anything, the fight is about Pyotr. During the fight, Andrey lets it slip that he is jealous of Yuliya’s relationship with Pyotr. He says that Pyotr is an atheist, and he as the governor is obligated to support faith in God. That means that Yuliya must follow suit. He also says that Pyotr is an agitator. Yuliya says that it’s all talk and that no action will come from it. Andrey says he’ll throw Pyotr in jail, and Yuliya becomes angry. She laughs derisively at Andrey, and Andrey lifts his fist over Yuliya. He doesn’t strike her, but the gesture is appalling both to Yuliya and to him. He shuts himself in his room and sleeps.
Andrey continues to battle with Yuliya about Pyotr and Pyotr’s role in the revolutionary faction. Yuliya’s assertion that the revolutionaries and Pyotr are all talk and no action again shows that Yuliya is perhaps perilously out of touch with reality. In each situation, she seems to believe that she knows exactly what is going on and how to pull the levers to achieve the results she desires, when in reality she often overestimates her own capacities and seems to be woefully oblivious to Pyotr’s true motives and abilities.
Themes
When Andrey wakes up, a servant tells him that Yuliya has gone with Varvara to inspect a location for the next gala. Another person then tells Andrey about the crowd of factory workers. Andrey rushes to meet the crowd. When he arrives, he shouts at the police officers to ready their birch rods (which are used for flogging). He thinks he sees Pyotr in the crowd and tells officers to seize him. Anton and Stepan are also near the crowd. Anton tries to keep Stepan out of it, but Stepan goes into the middle of the crowd. While there, one of the officers singles out Stepan and grabs him by the collar. Andrey says no, and Anton grabs Stepan and drags him out of the crowd. Anton tells Stepan that they have Andrey to thank for avoiding a beating. They then go together to try and speak to Yuliya.
This passage shows that Andrey’s fervency is guided more by personal animosity toward Pyotr, and by the fallout from his fight with Yuliya, than by a sense of civic duty or governmental responsibility. In that spirit, Andrey orders police officers to beat the crowd of factory workers that has gathered, which only adds to the hysteria. That depiction shows that if the revolutionary faction’s goal is to sow chaos in the town, then they have already begun to succeed in important ways.
Themes
