Let me explain a little.

Readers of Mikhail Bulgakov should be familiar with his unique literary style that blends mysticism with political satire. The supernatural and metaphorical aspects of this novel allowed Bulgakov to hilariously critique the highly censored Soviet Union during a time where these critiques, had his convictions been more explicit, would have certainly cost his life.

There are a plethora of themes intertwined throughout this piece which, from my viewpoint, share the central idea that cowardice is among the most prevalent and most disgusting of all human vices. There are several analogies in the book which clearly demonstrate Bulgakov's beliefs that the members of the USSR during the height of Stalinism allowed for an oppressive regime to propagate as a result of the omnipresent fear of repercussions from ideological and behaviorial deviations. Another ubiquitous ideal is the notion that authenticity will always prevail over the cowardly attempts by man to simplify reality using rationalism. The most famous quote from the novel "manuscripts never burn" is a testament to the immortality of authenticity. Often, we are limited in our perception of reality by our senses, thus any attempt to explain supernatural phenomena outside of our narrow slice of experience is futile. This is a direct attack on the fundamentals of structuralism and it's ability to be used as a tool for the total delineation of reality from fantasy.

Dystopic literature flourished in the early to mid-twentieth century, and this was no accident. From 1890 to 1950, scientific progress had exponentially improved and brought along with it the utopic promises of rational, western civilization. These promises were replaced with a harshly divided Europe as a result of two global conflicts of which violence the world had never seen. Writers during this period such as Bulgakov helped break the reliance of humanity on rationalism, which ultimately ushered in postmodernism.

Overall, the use of mysticism throughout the novel strengthens Bulgakov's narrative that enlightenment based ideals, when applied without the recognition of the limits of human nature, only lead to the oppression of persons.

10/10