The Master and Margarita

Margarita looks up from the book to see that dawn has already arrived. Though she feels happier than ever, a team of investigators is scouring the city to determine why so many “various and muddled incidents” (248) have occurred. The investigators look for Woland in Berlioz’s apartment, but they find “no one” (249) and cannot find any official document that can confirm Woland’s presence in the city. Woland and his entourage seem to have vanished and many of the people affected by their tricks are returned to normal and have no memory of what happened. Others, like Rimsky, are too terrified to talk about what they saw. The investigators realize that many “victims of the mysterious magician and his gang” (251) have been sent to the asylum. All interviews with inmates lead them nowhere, however. The investigators blame rogue hypnotists, who tricked Berlioz into killing himself and tricked Styopa into running away to Yalta. When Styopa and Varenukha return to Moscow, they admit themselves to the asylum rather than tell the police the truth about what happened to them.

Annushka and Nikolai Ivanovich are both interviewed. The investigators realize that Margarita and Natasha are both missing. When they receive reports of people in Berlioz’s empty apartment, they rush to the scene. When the investigators burst into the apartment, they find only Behemoth inside. He assures them that he is “not doing any mischief” (256). He challenges the investigators to a “duel” (257) while they try to trap him, and he fires a gun at the police, who then fire back at him. However, no one is hurt in the gunfight. Woland, Korovyov, and Azazello shout complaints about the noise. Behemoth sets a fire and exits the apartment. As the building burns down, the investigators run outside. As the fire brigade arrives with their “bloodcurdling sirens” (258), the people in the street see Woland and the others flying out of a window and into the night.

Korovyov and Behemoth visit the Torsgin Store at the Smolensk Market. As cats are not allowed inside, Behemoth transforms himself into “a fat man in a torn cap, whose face did look a bit catlike” (259). Korovyov and Behemoth walk through the departments, past the expensive items. They pass a man who uses a knife to skin a salmon. The “extremely sharp knife” (260) is very similar to the one stolen by Levi Matvei. Behemoth begins eating the produce, and when he is told that he must pay for it first he refuses to listen. The employees try to throw Korovyov and Behemoth out of the store. Amid the chaos, Behemoth starts a fire. Korovyov and Behemoth “fly up to the ceiling and then burst there like children’s balloons” (262). Only a minute later, they reappear at the MASSOLIT headquarters. They visit the restaurant and joke about the writers who work in the building. Without cards proving they are writers they are not allowed into the restaurant. As they argue with the hostess, however, the manager Archibald Archibaldovich ushers them into the restaurant and sits them at the “best table” (264). The manager has heard the strange rumors circulating in Moscow, and he does not want to offend Korovyov or Behemoth. As “delicacies” (265) are being prepared for Korovyov and Behemoth, they overhear two nearby diners discussing the supposedly bulletproof magicians who are causing trouble in the city. At that moment, the investigators burst into the room and fire their guns at Korovyov and Behemoth. Setting fire to the building, Korovyov and Behemoth escape again.

At sunset, Woland and Azazello gaze out at the city of Moscow from a stone terrace. Woland likes the “interesting” (268) city, but Azazello prefers Rome. They see the burning buildings in the distance and presume that Korovyov and Behemoth have been causing trouble. Levi Matvei arrives on the terrace. He insists that he wishes to speak with Woland. At first, Woland is bemused by Levi’s arrival. He talks about the nature of evil, asking what would “good do if evil didn’t exist” (269). He criticizes Levi’s manners. Levi ignores Woland’s comments. He explains that Yeshua read the book written by the Master. Yeshua has sent a direct request to Woland that the Master be allowed to live a peaceful life. Woland wonders why Yeshua is not rewarding the Master by welcoming him into heaven. Levi replies that the Master “has not earned light, he has earned peace” (269). Woland agrees and tells Levi to go away. Before leaving, Levi insists that any deal for the Master also includes Margarita. Woland agrees. After Levi departs, Woland sends Azazello to make the arrangements. Korovyov and Behemoth appear on the terrace after Azazello leaves. Woland tells Korovyov and Behemoth that he has no further orders for them. At the moment, he has nothing else for them to do. He tells them to rest before the arrival of the next storm. This next storm will be “the final thunderstorm” (270). As Korovyov and Behemoth disappear, hints of a great storm can be seen on the horizon.

Margarita and the Master sit in their apartment. She is wearing the cloak Woland gave her, and he is still dressed in an asylum inmate’s outfit. Margarita says she truly believes they were “the guests of Satan” (272), and she is delighted she managed to make a deal with him. The Master is less enthusiastic. He tries unsuccessfully to convince Margarita to “go back home” (273) to her husband. He claims he is a sick man who suffers from mental health issues. Margarita dismisses his fears. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Azazello. Margarita welcomes him into their apartment, and Azazello invites them to join Woland for “a little outing” (275). The Master has no choice but to accept that everything he witnessed is real. Azazello pours wine for the couple, telling them that the wine is the same as that drunk by Pontius Pilate at the time of Yeshua’s execution. The three drink a toast “to Woland’s health” (276). Immediately, Margarita falls unconscious. The Master, slipping to the ground, accuses Azazello of poisoning them.

Azazello ignores the unconscious people and transports himself magically to the house Margarita shared with her husband. Somehow, Margarita is also in the house. She is miserable, waiting for her husband to return, and then she suffers from a heart attack. As she falls down, she calls out for Natasha. Azazello is pleased that everything seems in order. He returns to the basement apartment and uses the wine to revive Margarita and the Master. He tells them to “say good-bye to your basement, and do it quickly” (277) as a storm is about to begin. The Master realizes they are dead. As they prepare to leave to meet Woland, Margarita tells the Master to bring his book. However, the Master has completely memorized his work. He does not need a physical copy, as he will “never forget anything” (277). Azazello burns down the apartment and leads the Master and Margarita outside, where three black horses stand in the street to carry them away.

Azazello, the Master, and Margarita ride the flying horses over Moscow. The Master shouts his farewells to the city. They land at the asylum. Azazello waits outside while the Master and Margarita go inside to find Ivan. He is excited to see the couple, and he has already guessed that the Master will “flying away forever” (278). He promises he will never write another poem, but he has another project in mind. The Master wants Ivan to write a sequel to the book about Pontius Pilate. When introduced to Margarita, Ivan compliments her. She assures Ivan that “everything will work out as it should” (279). They say their goodbyes, and then the Master and Margarita leave the asylum. After they go, Ivan tells the nurse he is worried that something has happened to the Master. She reveals that the man in the Master’s room is dead. Ivan already knows this. He also knows that a woman “just died in the city” (280).

The storm passes by and leaves a “multi-colored rainbow” (281) over Moscow. Azazello leads the Master and Margarita to where Woland, Behemoth, and Korovyov are waiting. Woland tells the two humans to say goodbye to their city. The Master takes one final look at Moscow, feeling a strange mix of sadness, anxiety, and excitement. Behemoth and Korovyov perform magic tricks for their own amusement until Woland announces it is “time to go” (282). The group rides their horses into the sky as the city disappears behind them in a swirl of smoke and mist.

The Master, Margarita, Woland, and his entourage ride the “magical black horses” (284) through the night. As they ride, Woland’s entourage changes in appearance. Korovyov becomes a knight, Behemoth becomes a young, slim jester. Azazello takes on his demonic form. The Master changes as well; his hair whitens and his beard ties itself into a braid. When they reach a platform shrouded in moonlight, they land their horses. On the platform, Margarita sees Pontius Pilate on a chair with Banga by his side. He stares at the moon and ignores the new arrivals, “either deaf or too sunk in thought” (285). Woland tells the Master his book is not finished. For 2,000 years, Pilate has stared at the moon. He has been unable to sleep, and his only company has been his dog. Banga is afraid of storms, but he endures the bad weather through devotion to Pilate. Pilate continues to repeat the same phrases to himself. He complains that he has no peace. When he does sleep, he returns to the dream of ascending into the moonlight with Yeshua. However, he never seems to be able to follow the path. Pilate would “gladly change places with the ragged wanderer, Levi Matvei” (286) than endure his unexpected and unprecedented fame as the man who sentenced Yeshua to death.

Margarita is horrified. She demands that Woland release Pilate. Woland laughs. He turns to the Master, telling the Master to finish his book. The Master already knows what he must do. He tells Pilate he is free and that Yeshua is waiting for him. The Master’s voice becomes huge, powerful enough to tear down mountains. A city appears and then a path made entirely of moonlight. Banga leads the way down the path, followed by the astonished Pilate. The Master believes he is destined to follow Pilate, but Woland says that this is not the case. He says the Master has the choice to return to his old house and his old life with Margarita. The Master and Margarita choose to be together in peace. They walk down a different path and say farewell to Woland. They cross a “small, moss-covered stone bridge” (287) at dawn and arrive at a peaceful cottage where they will be able to spend eternity together and be visited by the people they love. The Master, like Pilate, understands that he is now free.

The authorities deal with the chaos left behind in Moscow by Woland. Rumors of magic and trickery are credited to “a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in their art” (288). As well as investigating Woland’s victims, a number of stray black cats are killed or dragged to the police station. Anyone who looks slightly like Woland are put (temporarily) in prison as well as anyone with a similar name. One magician is falsely arrested, and there is “great intellectual ferment” (289). Eventually, the investigators are forced to accept the theory about hypnotists and ventriloquists. The investigation comes “to an end, just as, in general, all things do” (291).

As the years pass, the victims of Woland’s tricks never properly recover. Bengalsky, Styopa, Rimsky, and others are all traumatized by the tricks played on them. Andrei Fokich, just as Woland said, dies from cancer. Elsewhere, Ivan takes a job as a history professor. Every year, he returns to the Patriarch Ponds just before the spring full moon and waits in case Woland returns. Even though he accepts the theory about “hypnotist-criminals” (293), some part of him is drawn back to the ponds. One year, he leaves the ponds and visits a large mansion in Moscow. There, he sees an old man with “slightly piggish features” (294) who also stares at the moon. Unbeknown to Ivan, the man is Nikolai Ivanovich. He mourns his decision not to fly away with Natasha.

When Ivan returns home, he cries in his sleep. His wife does not understand why this happens every year. Her only option is to inject him with a sedative. When he calms and drifts away to sleep, he dreams about the death of Yeshua. He sees Pilate finally meeting Yeshua and walking away with him along the moonlit path. As they walk, Yeshua and Pilate talk about the execution as Banga follows behind them. Deeper into the dream, Ivan meets the Master and Margarita. The Master confirms that the story of Pilate and Yeshua ended on the path and that “everything will work out as it should” (295). Ivan’s mind fills with bright white light and he wakes up, his mind free of any thoughts about Pilate. However, the thoughts always return the next year. The novel ends with the sentence with which the Master always planned to end his book: Ivan will not be troubled until the next full moon, “neither the noseless murderer of Gestas, nor the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the knight Pontius Pilate” (296).