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Part 2, Chapter 5, Section 3
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 time goes on, Yuliya becomes increasingly involved in Andrey’s work as governor. She persuades the governor to pass a couple of bills that are close to being illegal and pushes him to expand the power of the governor. Yuliya is easily manipulated and is moved by several competing and often contradictory ideas. She’s sympathetic to landowners and aristocrats and also to freethinkers and new institutions. She also has favorites, including Pyotr. Yuliya believes that there’s a vast revolutionary conspiracy in Russia aimed against the state, and she thinks that Pyotr will help her come into contact with the conspiracy, thereby exposing it and earning herself a career in the future. At the same time, she doesn’t think this will earn her Pyotr’s ire. Instead, she’s convinced that ultimately she’ll be rewarded not just by society but by history in general.
Yuliya’s increased involvement in political matters, coupled with her close relationship with Pyotr, suggests that Pyotr is also gaining political influence in the town. This passage underlines that idea by depicting Yuliya as out of touch with reality. She assumes that she is in control of Pyotr and that he will do whatever she says, but the novel suggests that, in actuality, she has farfetched and contradictory aims. With that in mind, the novel implies that Pyotr—who has recently successfully manipulated Varvara and Stepan to destroy their relationship—may actually be in control of Yuliya, rather than the other way around.
Themes
