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Part 3, Chapter 5, 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
During the day after Marie gives birth, Virginsky makes the rounds to see the members of the group of five. He wants to tell them that now that Shatov is a father, there’s no risk that he’ll inform on the group. Virginsky only finds Erkel and Lyamshin at home, though. After Virginsky tells Lyamshin what he thinks, Lyamshin is evasive when Virginsky asks if he still plans to show up at the meeting when they plan to murder Shatov. After Virginsky tells Erkel, Erkel unflinchingly says he still intends to go through with the plan to murder Shatov.
Virginsky has become convinced by Arina’s observations that Shatov doesn’t pose a threat to the revolutionary faction. When he tries to convince other members of the revolutionary faction of that idea, though, he is met with the force of herd mentality in the sense that both Lyamshin and Erkel seem unwilling to ignore new information and instead, remain committed to the group’s murderous plan.
Themes
At the appointed time, the members of the Society meet. The group includes Lyamshin, Virginsky, Liputin, Shigalyov, Tolkachenko, and Pyotr. Virginsky announces that since Shatov is now a father, there’s no risk that he’ll denounce them, so there’s no need to murder him. Pyotr says that Shatov will still have his heart set on denouncing them. Virginsky says over and over again, “I protest!” Shigalyov then speaks up and says that he has given the matter a great deal of thought and no longer agrees with the plan so won’t take part. He begins to walk away, and Pyotr cocks his revolver and aims it at Shigalyov, saying that Shigalyov will warn Shatov. Shigalyov says he won’t and then leaves.
Virginsky and Shigalyov show their willingness to go against the group, testing the limits of herd mentality. However, neither Virginsky nor Shigalyov actually does anything that could hinder the revolutionary faction’s plot to kill Shatov. Shigalyov leaves, showing he won’t be cowed by the group’s desires, but he doesn’t warn Shatov, even though he considers the group’s planned murder to be wrong. And Virginsky, who also views the murder as unquestionably wrong, neither leaves nor attempts to save Shatov.
Themes
Erkel approaches the group with Shatov. When Shatov gets close to the group, Liputin, Tolkachenko, and Erkel seize him. Pyotr runs up with his revolver. He aims it at Shatov’s forehead and fires. Shatov dies instantly. They then tie rocks to Shatov’s body to sink it in a nearby pond. Virginsky cries out that what they’re doing isn’t right. Lyamshin lets out a series of animal-like screams, and Virginsky then begins screaming as well. Eventually, Erkel subdues Lyamshin, and the screaming stops.
Again, while Virginsky clearly considered the murder of Shatov to be morally wrong, herd mentality, and a desire not to upset the group, prevented Virginsky from taking action to stop that murder. The same seems to be true of Lyamshin, whose cries afterward show his distress at having been involved in Shatov’s murder.
Themes
After they throw Shatov’s body in the pond, Pyotr announces that he will look at Lyamshin’s screams as a bout of delirium and is willing to forget Virginsky’s protests. Pyotr makes a speech about the importance of their cause and says that they should all feel proud of the actions they have taken to support that cause. He says that he will now go to Aleksey’s to make sure that Aleksey takes his life and leaves a note (falsely) confessing to murdering Shatov. As Pyotr is leaving, Liputin catches up to him. Liputin knows that he shouldn’t ask, but he wants to know if there are really “groups of five” scattered throughout Russia and Europe or if theirs is the only group. Pyotr says it doesn’t matter whether there’s one or 1,000 such groups. Liputin says he knew there was only one and leaves.
Liputin is again portrayed as a true believer in the cause of the revolutionary faction. His desire to know whether other factions actually exist points again to the power of herd mentality. The secrecy of the groups of five makes each member of the group of five believe they are acting in concert with a much larger network with similar aims. In that sense, Liputin’s decision to go along with the murder of Shatov is predicated on his idea that he is helping a much larger network of revolutionary groups. When he learns that his group of five may be the only group, though, his decision to take part in Shatov’s murder doesn’t seem to have contributed to the goals he thought it would.
Themes
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