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Part 3, Chapter 6, 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
Pyotr goes to the train station the next morning accompanied by Erkel. Pyotr is bound for Petersburg. He is trying to remain undetected at the station without making it apparent that he’s going into hiding. Erkel says that he understands that Pyotr has to leave and would even understand if Pyotr fled abroad. He says that Pyotr is everything, while he and the members of the group of five are nothing. An acquaintance of Pyotr’s then greets him. When the acquaintance learns that Pyotr is traveling in second class, the man invites Pyotr to travel with him in first class. Pyotr seems reluctant to do so but eventually agrees. He quickly says goodbye to Erkel and goes. Erkel doesn’t think that Pyotr is abandoning them. But he is alarmed that Pyotr left so abruptly and didn’t shake his hand particularly warmly when he left.
Erkel is another true believer in the revolutionary cause (and in Pyotr in particular), which he makes clear when he tells Pyotr that he and the revolutionary faction mean nothing compared to Pyotr. Erkel’s alarm at Pyotr’s demeanor shows that even someone as devoted to Pyotr as Erkel may have begun to see that Pyotr is, in essence, a fraud. He is not concerned about socialism or the revolution. Instead, Pyotr is concerned only for himself, and he plans to disappear as soon as he gets on the train to avoid any consequences that might come from his actions, leaving people like Erkel behind to face those consequences.
Themes
