Previous
Part 2, Chapter 10, Section 2
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
Yuliya enters accompanied by Karmazinov, Varvara, Liza, and others. Yuliya and Karmazinov go to Stepan and speak to him flatteringly. Yuliya then invites everyone, including Stepan, into the salon. Yuliya pointedly ignores Andrey. In the salon, Yuliya continues to shower Stepan with flattery. Karmazinov announces that the gala will represent his final contribution to literature. After the gala, he plans to retire. Karmazinov and Yuliya press Stepan to perform at the gala tomorrow. Stepan seems reluctant, but he clearly enjoys the attention.
Flattery is one of the main tools of manipulation used by characters in the novel. In this case, Yuliya and Karmazinov use flattery to try and get Stepan to read at the gala. Karmazinov, a famous writer, also says he plans to retire after the gala, which makes it seem like the gala will be a momentous event. Stepan’s enjoyment of the attention also makes it clear that, perhaps more than anything, Stepan has always wanted people to pay attention and admire him.
Themes
Pyotr and Nikolay then enter. Nikolay asks Stepan if he was arrested earlier, and Stepan says he wasn’t and that it was only a misunderstanding. Pyotr remarks on the search along with the policeman grabbing Stepan and says that Stepan must be enjoying the attention in the governor’s salon. Andrey then enters. He loudly (and cryptically) says that people have been identified and measures have been taken. He storms out of the room and trips on the carpet as he leaves. Yuliya rushes after him.
This passage continues to depict Andrey’s descent into mental instability. The section also provides another example of the novel’s satirical impulses, as Andrey trips over the carpet while he is trying to make a serious point about tracking down the revolutionaries. In that sense, the novel uses humor to depict Andrey as in over his head in his battle with the revolutionaries.
Themes
Those who remain in the salon remark that Andrey might be “deranged,” and people gossip about the personal issues between Andrey and Yuliya. Yuliya returns. She tries to save face by saying that the gala tomorrow will surely brighten Andrey’s mood. As the group prepares to leave, Liza approaches Nikolay. She says that a man named Lebyadkin, who claims to be Nikolay’s relation, has been pestering her with letters and claims to know secrets about Nikolay. Nikolay says that it’s true that he is Lebyadkin’s relation, as he married Lebyadkin’s sister Marya five years ago. People in the room are shocked, including Nikolay’s mother, Varvara. When Anton and Stepan return to Stepan’s house, Stepan practices his reading for the gala in front of a mirror.
This is the first time that Nikolay has publicly revealed that he and Marya are married. He reveals that directly to Liza, who is in love with Nikolay. The people in the salon say that Andrey’s mental instability is related to the issues between him and Yuliya. Those issues show another example of Pyotr breaking up a relationship to advance his own aims, similar to what he previously did to Varvara and Stepan. Amid that upheaval, Stepan returns home and reads in the mirror, providing another example of his vanity and how that vanity takes precedence over all other concerns.
Themes
