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Part 2, Chapter 6, Section 6
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
Pyotr then goes to see Nikolay. When Pyotr arrives, Nikolay is talking with Mavriky behind closed doors. Pyotr can’t hear the conversation. Behind the doors, Mavriky, who is engaged to Liza, tells Nikolay that he (Nikolay) should marry Liza. Mavriky explains that Liza is in love with Nikolay. Nikolay says that he can’t marry Liza because he is already married. Mavriky is taken aback. He can’t believe that Nikolay has tormented Liza despite being married. He storms out of the room.
Mavriky makes it clear how obvious it is that Liza, despite her engagement to him, is still in love with Nikolay. That clarifies why Liza has seemed so distraught for much of the novel. She seems to be hopelessly in love with Nikolay, while Nikolay doesn’t give her feelings much consideration.
Themes
Pyotr then enters. He tells Nikolay that they should go to Virginsky’s birthday party, which is a cover for a Society meeting. Nikolay asks how many members will be there, and Pyotr says there are hardly any in this circle. He then explains that socialism has spread in Russia first by establishing elaborate hierarchies, which attract people’s attention, and second through sentimentality. Nikolay says that sentimentality and rank are all well and good, but what would really tie a movement together is ensuring that all of the members become complicit in the murder of someone they believe will inform on them. Pyotr thinks that Nikolay will soon see what his words mean. As they walk to Virginsky’s, Nikolay asks Pyotr if he is a member of the secret police. Pyotr says he isn’t.
Pyotr’s comments about how socialism has spread through the creation of hierarchies and through sentimentality make Pyotr’s cynicism clear. He thinks that the increase in people advocating for socialism is based on appealing to people’s desire for superiority (which seems to go against the precepts of socialism) and their most easily manipulated emotions, rather than for more noble reasons. Nikolay’s question of whether Pyotr is a member of the secret police also makes clear the level of paranoia that exists in the revolutionary movement.
Themes
