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Part 3, Chapter 5, Section 4
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
Shatov goes to Aleksey to look for what Arina has asked him to find. Though it’s the middle of the night, Shatov finds Aleksey awake. Aleksey asks Shatov if he ever experiences a sense of eternal harmony. He explains that he has sensations about once a week when he feels he has a sense of nature as a whole that feels almost heavenly. He says that five seconds is as much as a person can endure of that feeling. Shatov asks Aleksey if he has epilepsy, as Aleksey’s account is similar to one that someone with epilepsy told Shatov. Aleksey says he doesn’t have epilepsy. Shatov returns to his apartment.
Dostoevsky had epilepsy throughout his life, and Shatov’s descriptions of experiencing a profound sense of eternal unity mirror Dostoevsky’s own descriptions of sensations he would experience before having an epileptic seizure. Aleksey’s sense of that eternal harmony again raises the question of Aleksey’s devotion to his suicidal ideology. With that in mind, it remains to be seen if, or how, Aleksey’s experience of eternal harmony will impact his decision to take his own life.
Themes
