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Part 3, Chapter 4, 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
After leaving Aleksey’s house, Liputin returns home. He gets his passport and packs his things, intending to leave. He thinks that he is done with Pyotr and the Society. The next morning, as Liputin prepares to leave, he learns that Fedka has been found murdered. The official suspect is a factory worker who helped Fedka with the arson and with murdering Marya and Lebyadkin. The factory worker reportedly suspected Fedka of stealing money from Lebyadkin and taking it for himself. Liputin decides he can’t risk running away and goes to meet the Society at the agreed-upon time. He carries his passport in his pocket, though.
Though the official story about Fedka’s murder is that he was killed by an unhappy accomplice, Liputin suspects that Pyotr is behind the murder, especially considering that Pyotr just recently threatened to kill Fedka. Liputin then decides not to defect from the revolutionary faction, showing how Pyotr uses violence and the threat of violence to compel obedience. In that way, people like Liputin feel like they have no choice but to go along with what Pyotr tells them to do, or else they too will be killed.
Themes
