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Part 3, Chapter 3, 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
Pyotr tells Nikolay that Lebyadkin, Marya, and a servant have been killed. He says that because of the confluence of events, he and Nikolay won’t be suspected of the murder. Instead, Lebyadkin had been waving his money around earlier in the day, which led Fedka to try and steal it when he started the fire with the three factory workers. Pyotr says that even though people in town are saying Nikolay had Marya killed so he could marry Liza, he (Nikolay) is clear from a legal perspective. He says Nikolay should be clear morally too, as he didn’t want the murder to happen. Pyotr says that now that Marya is dead, Nikolay is free to marry Liza. Pyotr also says that Mavriky is outside and appears to have stood there for the entire night, waiting for Liza.
Because Pyotr has shown himself time and again to be someone who withholds the truth depending on his audience and is determined to manipulate others to get what he wants, it’s reasonable to be suspicious of whether he is telling the truth, particularly regarding whether Fedka killed Lebyadkin as part of a robbery. Due to the unreliability of Pyotr’s narration, it seems likely that something other than Lebyadkin’s money motivated Fedka to seek out Lebyadkin and Marya and murder them before setting fire to their house.
Themes
Nikolay accuses Pyotr of killing Marya. Pyotr denies any involvement. When they return to Liza, she asks what they were discussing. Nikolay says that his wife, her brother, and a servant have been murdered. Pyotr adds that Nikolay is not at fault. Liza asks if that’s true. Nikolay says that it’s not and that while he didn’t want the murder to occur, he knew that it would, and he didn’t stop the killers. Liza is horrified. She runs out of the house. Pyotr turns to Nikolay and asks him if he intends to inform on everyone. He pulls out a revolver. Nikolay tells Pyotr to go ahead and kill him. Pyotr says it wouldn’t make a difference, since Nikolay is asking for the bullet. The two then part ways.
Nikolay is also skeptical of Pyotr’s explanation of Marya’s murder. Nikolay’s statement that he feels like he’s in part at fault for Marya’s murder because he didn’t speak up to stop it shows the limitations of Nikolay’s idea that he is beyond morality and that good and evil don’t apply to him. He seems to have tested that idea by failing to speak up to ensure that Marya wasn’t killed. Now that she has been killed, though, instead of feeling indifferent, Nikolay feels guilty, showing the hold Nikolay’s conscience has on him despite his earlier belief that he is above having a conscience.
Themes
