How Does Bulgakov Criticize the Police Force in The Master and Margarita?
Michail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is not only a classical account of the struggle — or in this work perhaps the walk on the tightrope — between good and evil; it is also largely a criticism of several aspects of the contemporary Soviet society. Probably the most blatant aspect criticized is the antireligious tendency brought along with Communism, but also the description of the literary association MASSOLIT, which bears witness of Bulgakov’s aversion to the cultural snobbery, is important to emphasize. The description of the housing problems in Nikanor Ivanovich’s dream and Korovyev’s and Behemoth’s last adventures in the exchange control office constitutes a criticism caustic enough to be omitted in the first edition. A criticism perhaps not as manifest, but more recurrent, is that of the blind faith that the public has in the police force. As soon as something unexpected or abnormal occurs, the police is called for. Most public places have a caretaker on guard, who have v
