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Part 3, Chapter 7, 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
Stepan travels with Sofya to a travelers’ hut nearby. They plan to take a boat from there to reach Spasov. Stepan arranges to have a private room and asks for chicken. Sofya warns Stepan that because the travelers’ hut will be crowded, the private room and the chicken will come at a steep price. Stepan tells Sofya not to worry. That night, Stepan tries to explain to Sofya what happened between him, Varvara, and Darya. His speech has become so hard to follow, though, that Sofya worries that he is ill. Stepan tells Sofya that he has told lies his entire life and has always spoken to support his own self-interest and hasn’t been committed to telling the truth. He then says that he won’t betray Varvara and wants to return to her.
Stepan shows that while he has altered his life, he has not become an altogether different person. Though he’s cut himself off from Varvara and no longer has her money to cover his expenses, he still has a taste for the finer things in life and doesn’t want to face the discomfort that comes with traveling on a limited budget. Still, Stepan also shows how turning a page on his old life has allowed him to be more honest with himself, as he realizes that he has devoted his life to falsity and also that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Varvara.
Themes
Stepan becomes more and more ill over the coming days. He is so sick that he can’t board the boat bound for Spasov. Sofya stays behind to look after him. The landlord of the travelers’ hut tells Sofya that she has to find somewhere else to bring Stepan. The landlord says the hut isn’t a hospital, and they’re worried about what might happen if Stepan dies there. Stepan asks Sofya to read the Bible to him, and he asks to hear the passage about demons entering swine. After Sofya reads it, Stepan says that it explains what is happening in Russia with the increase in “filth,” including with the Russian people and with Pyotr. Stepan begins raving and loses consciousness.
The passage that Sofya reads is also the epigraph of the novel. In that passage, a man is exorcised of demons before throwing himself at the feet of Christ. In Stepan’s telling, the demons in question are the “filth” and sickness that people like Pyotr have infected the country with. That likens Pyotr’s ideologies of atheism, nihilism, and socialism to demons who have possessed Russia. In Stepan’s view, Russia must expel those demons before symbolically throwing itself at the feet of Christ, thereby returning to Christianity.
Themes
