The Master and Margarita

by

Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita: Foil 1 key example

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Explanation and Analysis—Margarita vs. Pilate:

Margarita and Pilate—central characters in two of the novel’s plotlines—are connected by both the Master’s book and their efforts to undo the past. One mourns the loss of her lover; the other struggles with a mistake he can no longer revoke. They despair and dream. But read against each other, they explore different ways of coming to terms with loss and history.

For Pontius Pilate, mortal grief stems from his uniquely difficult decision. He is at once tempted to take up Ha-Nozri’s “incredibly absurd” teachings that “all men are good” and unable to accept the political consequences of doing so. After failing to pardon Ha-Nozri and sentencing him to crucifixion, the Procurator languishes with guilt.

The penitent Pilate therefore seeks to redress his mistakes through his own political position—he organizes his own assassins to avenge Ha-Nozri by killing Jehudah on the outskirts of the city. Earthly power is the source of Pilate’s woes and the instrument by which he attempts to fix them. He exacts justice before Matthew Levi can.

Margarita’s sorrow—the disappearance of a lover—bears a slightly different flavor. So do her means of acting upon it. Pilate resolves his penitence through worldly means, but Margarita finds recourse beyond it. Agreeing to Woland’s requests, she lathers cream, acquires invisibility, and endures the depths of the Devil’s ghastly ball for the sake of recovering her lover. In a single night, Margarita commits herself to Woland and wins back the Master.

Pilate effectively finds himself bound by his mortal limitations whereas Margarita is not. Accordingly, she struggles to overcome them. As they gallop towards their final destination in limbo-like afterlife, Woland shows the Master his insomnia-ridden Procurator muttering about the “bad job” to himself. Pontius Pilot has to be reminded of his freedom to seek out Ha-Nozri, while Margarita seeks out her lover for herself. In bearing every trial for the Master, Margarita lives out the redemptive power of love. She gives love; Pilate—at last united with Ha-Nozri—receives it.