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Part 3, Chapter 2, 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
When Anton arrives at the ball, he’s surprised to see that Pyotr is acting as a steward. Anton roves through the party, picking up on bits of gossip, particularly about Liza and Nikolay. Eventually, the “literary quadrille” begins, which is a choreographed dance that references pieces of literature. Liputin and Lyamshin take part. Anton stands behind Yuliya. At one point, Pyotr walks up to Yuliya, and Yuliya tells him to get away from her and stop deceiving her. During the dance, the audience grows restless again and begins making snide remarks. Lyamshin begins walking on his hands, which Andrey takes as a sign of disrespect. Laughter breaks through the audience. Andrey yells at Lyamshin to stop and says that everyone who is laughing should leave.
This passage shows the pattern and goals of much of the revolutionary faction’s actions up to this point. While Lyamshin’s decision to walk on his hands during a dance may seem innocuous enough, it also seems to make a mockery of the proceedings. That shows that the revolutionary faction isn’t only intent on violent overthrow of the government. Instead, part of their plan seems to be to challenge established norms and make fun of those norms so that people begin to take those norms less seriously.
Themes
As Andrey yells, someone from the audience calls him a fool. Yuliya tries to restore order by telling the crowd that Andrey is not in his right mind. She worries that the events of the morning are repeating themselves. Someone then shouts that there is a fire across the river. Everyone rushes to look and sees that it’s true. Someone else yells out that the ball has been held to provide an opportunity for the act of arson. Other people shout and blame the factory workers who protested the day before. Andrey shouts that no one can leave. He wants to conduct a search to find out who is responsible. Yuliya tries to get Andrey to calm down, and Andrey yells that Yuliya should be searched first because the ball was held so that the fire could be set. Yuliya faints. The crowd rushes to see the fire.
This passage shows that the revolutionary faction’s attempts to undermine the power of people in authority, including Andrey, have already been successful, at least to some extent. In this case, when Andrey tries to restore order, someone in the crowd calls him a fool, showing that his power has already been diminished. That diminishment then holds very real consequences when part of the town goes up in flames. The revolutionary faction also seems to have been successful in creating an atmosphere of paranoia and hysteria in town, as Anton turns against Yuliya—his own wife—and accuses her of being complicit in the arson, even though she has no apparent involvement in the fire.
Themes
