Blending Good and Evil in the Master and Margarita

In Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Woland has created some kind of partnership with Yeshua Ha-Nozri. He explains to Matthu Levi, a mere mortal, that he is misunderstood by fools. Woland is simply an alternate interpretation of the Devil. During his short conversation with Matthu Levi he asks him what good deeds are they able to do if there is no evil to right. “You spoke the words as though you did not recognize the existence of either shadows or evil. But would you be kind enough to give some thought to this: what would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? Even after Woland has burned down a fair portion of Moscow as well as created commotion among the lives of several characters peace returns to the city and justice is delivered to those who deserve it.

Woland is potentially an agent of good. It has been long debated among theologians why God would allow Satan’s mischief to go on unpunished. He is the being who delivers the sentence to guilty criminals. The balance between good and evil is maintained by the end of The Master and Margarita. Everything eventually turns out right.

In The Master and Margarita, the lines of good and evil are intermixed. It is apparent that Woland is confident that everything that is meant to happen will happen. When Woland, the Master, and Margarita are standing on the hilltop where Pontius Pilate is slumbering Woland says, “Everything will turn out right. That’s what the world is built on.” Pontius Pilate was tormented for 2000 years on top of Bald Mountain. Woland is the one who has the power to control this. It is unclear what his motivations are for freeing Pilate. Yeshua was the person who ultimately decided the fate of the Master as well as Margarita and therefore forgiven Pilate.

Woland was able to produce the Master’s novel from its ashes. He was the one who was able to save the manuscript and give it to Yeshua to read. Without Woland, the master would never return and his story would be lost.

Matthu Levi is sent to meet Woland at the end of the retinue’s adventures in Moscow. He delivers the message that Yeshua wants the master to be granted peace. Yeshua does not possess the power to do this task himself and asks that Woland do it. Woland can obviously do it easily. The Master is given peace, not light in the end because he has acquiesced to the pressure on him from society. The master’s one flaw is that he is a coward, like Pontius Pilate. Because of this one fact he is given peace, not light. Yeshua did not blame anyone for his death, furthermore he did not seize the opportunity