"Diaboliad": a summary, the main idea of the work and the author

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Summary of the Diaboliad will be of interest to all fans of Mikhail Bulgakov's work. This is a story written by him in 1923. In this article, we will give a summary of the work, tell about its author, the history of creation and the main idea.

Creating a story

A summary of the Diaboliad helps to understand what topics interested the Russian writer in the early 1920s.

For the first time the story was published the next year after it was written in the metropolitan almanac "Nedra". Interestingly, the author initially offered this work to the editor of the Rossiya magazine, Isaiah Lezhnev, but he refused to publish it.

The writer himself left an entry in his diary dedicated to its release. He mentions that the story has been accepted, but they pay only 50 rubles per sheet for it. From this, he concludes that the book turned out to be stupid and good for nothing.

Synopsis

Introducing a very brief summary of the Diaboliad, it must be said that in the work the authordeals with the problem of the "little man" who falls victim to the bureaucratic machine.

The main character is a clerk named Korotkov. In his wild imagination, this bureaucratic machine begins to be associated with diabolical power. However, he never thinks about it directly.

He is a fired employee who failed to deal with the bureaucrats by losing his encounter with them. As a result, he goes insane and in desperation commits suicide by throwing himself off the roof of a high-rise building.

Author

The author of the story "The Diaboliad" is the famous Russian writer Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. He was born in Kyiv in 1891. Studied at Kiev University at the Faculty of Medicine.

At the beginning of the First World War, he worked in the frontline zone, then was sent to a small hospital in the Smolensk province.

At the end of 1921 he moved to Moscow. Leaving the profession of a doctor, he began to write feuilletons for newspapers. Became a member of the All-Russian Union of Writers.

Bulgakov was a popular writer and playwright, although some of his works were not published. The most famous in his creative career were the novels "The White Guard", "Master and Margarita", the story "Heart of a Dog", "Fatal Eggs".

In March 1940, he died at the age of 48. He was diagnosed with a kidney disease, in addition, the writer used too much morphine, which many years ago was prescribed to him to relieve pain symptoms.

Ties

Summary of Bulgakov's Diaboliad allows you to find out the main events of this work. In the center of the story is the clerk of Glavtsentrbazspimat (Spimat for short) Varfolomey Korotkov. Around everyone is changing one job after another, and he has been firmly sitting in his position for 11 months.

At the beginning of the story, the exact date is indicated when the events of Bulgakov's "Diaboliad" take place. This is September 20, 1921. On this day, the cashier Spimata declares that there is nothing to pay the salary with. Instead of money, Korotkov is given the company's products - matches. At home, he decides to try to sell them. But it immediately turns out that it will not be easy to do this, since the goods are of poor quality: matches do not burn.

Firing

A summary of Bulgakov's Diaboliad will allow you to quickly recall the main events of the work if you need to prepare for an exam or test. The next morning, Korotkov returns to work, where he encounters a man who struck him with his appearance. He is not tall, but very broad in the shoulders. The head is like an egg, and the left leg is lame. The tiny face is carefully shaved, the small green eyes set in deep depressions. He was dressed in a gray jacket, sewn from a blanket, a shirt with Little Russian embroidery peeked out from under him.

Seeing Korotkov, the stranger asked what he needed. After that, he tore the paper out of the hands of the protagonist of the "Diaboliad" Mikhail Bulgakov andyelled at him. It turns out that the bald one is their new boss, instead of Chekushin, who was fired the day before. Korotkov learns about this from the personal secretary of the leader Lidochka.

Back in his office, Bartholomew studies the order of the new leader, in which he orders to give all women soldiers' underpants. Having composed a telephone message, the clerk sends it to the head for approval. After that, he sits in the room for four hours, so that when the authorities appear, he has the appearance of a man with his head immersed in work. However, no one ever comes. After dinner, the bald one leaves, and the entire office almost immediately scatters. The hero of the "Diaboliad" by M. Bulgakov Korotkov, alone, is the last to leave the service.

The next morning, he is late for work, and when he runs into the office, he sees that all the employees are sitting in the wrong places at the tables from the former Alpine Rose restaurant, but are standing in a group against the wall, studying a certain document. This is order number one on the immediate dismissal of Korotkov for negligence and a bruised face (he received an injury the day before when he tried to light the matches given to him). Under the order is the signature of the head, whose name is now known to everyone. This is Pantser, however, the surname is written with a small letter.

The hero of the book "Diaboliad" is enraged by this injustice and illiteracy of the boss. He threatens to explain himself, after which he immediately rushes to the manager's door. However, Longjohn at the same moment himself runs out of the office with a briefcase under his arm. Hastily says that he is busy, advises to contactclerk. Korotkov shouts after him that he is the clerk, but the manager has already left. Bartholomew finds out that the chief went to Tsentrsnab, he jumps into the tram and rushes along. Hope burns his heart - Bulgakov clarifies in "Diaboliad". Thus begins the wanderings of Bartholomew through Soviet institutions.

Searching for the truth

A summary of the chapters of the "Diaboliad" allows you to get a full impression of this story, to understand what the author wanted to say. Korotkov arrives at Tsentrsnab, where he immediately notices Longsoner's back. He tries to catch up with him, but soon loses his silhouette in the thick of people. Taking off to the platform of the fifth floor, he sees doors with mysterious inscriptions "Nachkantsupravdelsnab" and "Dortoir pepinierok". The use of abbreviations and little-understood words is a characteristic sign of that time, which is noticeable even when reading the summary of the Diaboliad. Bulgakov accurately notes the desire of early Soviet officials to reduce and simplify everything as much as possible, often bringing the situation to the point of absurdity.

In the room where Korotkov ended up, there are a lot of blond women who run between glass cages to the loud crackling of typewriters. The underpants are not there. Stopping the first woman he comes across, he learns that he is about to leave, if he wants to catch him, he must rush to catch up.

The position of the protagonist of "The Diaboliad" Bulgakov is getting more and more confusing. Summary gives enoughan accurate representation of the ridiculous situation he finds himself in. Bartholomew rushes in the direction indicated to him. On a dark platform, he sees the closing doors of the elevator, on which Longsoner is leaving. Korotkov calls him, the man turns around and says that it's already late, but it's better to come on Friday. The elevator doors close and he rushes down. At the same time, Korotkov draws attention to a strange feature: this Pantser has a beard that falls to his chest.

Rushing down the stairs, he again sees the manager, who is already clean-shaven. It passes very close to the hero of Bulgakov's Diaboliad, separated only by a glass wall. Korotkov rushes to the nearest door, but cannot open it. He sees an inscription that you can only go through the sixth entrance, bypassing the building around. Before him is an old man who reports that Longhorn has already been fired, and Chekushin has been returned in his place. Korotkov rejoices: he is now saved. But then it turns out that in the pursuit of the manager, he lost his wallet.

Document Recovery

Summary of the Diaboliad will help to find out the main events of the story even for those who have not read it. The main character urgently needs to restore the lost documents. But today it's too late - four o'clock, everyone goes home. Returning home, he finds a note in the door: a neighbor leaves him all her wine salary.

Late in the evening, Korotkov furiously crushes matchboxes. At this time, chthonic horror begins to overcome him. He cries until he finally falls asleep. The reader watches as the protagonist of the "Diaboliad" goes crazy. A brief summary allows you to present this quite clearly.

In the morning he goes to the brownie, but it turns out that he has died, so no certificates are issued. Arriving in Spimat, he discovers that there is not a single familiar face in the hall of the former Alpine Rose restaurant. Going into his office, he sees a bearded longsleeve at the table, who claims to be the local clerk. When Bartholomew, stricken, walks out into the corridor, a clean-shaven underpants appears, who instructs him to be an assistant and write about everything that happened here before, especially about the scoundrel Korotkov.

The pantser drags the main character into his office, writes something on paper, puts a seal, shouts into the phone that he will come soon and runs away again. On paper, Korotkov sees that the bearer of this document is the assistant manager, Spimat Kolobkov.

The bearded pants are back. Korotkov rushes at him, baring his teeth, he has to run away. Coming to his senses, the main character goes next. From the cries of Longhorn, the office is in disarray, the culprit of the incident is hiding behind the restaurant organ. Korotkov rushes to him, but clings to the handle. Grunts are heard and the hall is filled with a lion's roar. Through the roar and howl comes the signal of the car. The menacing and shaved Longhorn is back. As he climbs the stairs, the hair on Korotkov's head begins to move. He runs outside through the side doors. At this moment he seesa bearded Long Johner who gets into a cab.

Claims Bureau

The main character threatens to explain everything. He takes the tram and goes to the green building. In the window, Korotkov finds out where the claims bureau is, but almost immediately gets lost in the rooms and confusing corridors.

Relying on his own memory, he climbs to the eighth floor. Opening the doors, he enters a large hall with columns, completely empty. At that moment, a corpulent figure of a man dressed in all white descends from the stage. He asks Korotkov whether he is ready to please them with a new essay or feuilleton. The confused protagonist begins to tell a story from his own life that happened to him. Suddenly, the man also begins to complain about the same Pantser. According to him, during the two days of his stay, he managed to transfer all the furniture from here to the claims bureau.

Korotkov rushes to the claims bureau screaming. For at least five minutes he runs, overcoming the bends of the corridors, until he is at the very place from which he set off. He rushes in the other direction, but after 5 minutes he returns to the same place again. Running into the hall with columns, he again sees a man in white. His left arm is broken off, his nose and ear are missing. Cold, Korotkov returns to the corridor.

Suddenly, a secret door opens in front of him, from which a shriveled and old woman comes out with empty buckets, which she carries on a yoke. Entering it, the main character finds himself in a dark space from which there is no way out. He is infuriously scratches the walls until he leans on an unknown white spot, which releases him back onto the stairs.

Korotkov runs downstairs, from where he hears receding footsteps. For a moment, a long beard and a gray blanket flash before him. Their eyes meet, followed by a thin screech of pain and fear. Korotkov retreats upwards, and Pantser - downwards. Changing his voice to bass, he calls for help. Then he falls, stumbling, turns into a black cat with shiny porcelain eyes. In this form, it flies out into the street and is lost in the crowd. An unexpected clearing comes in the hero's brain. He understands that it's all about cats. After that, he starts laughing, louder and louder each time, until the whole staircase is filled with loud peals of his laughter.

In the evening, returning to his apartment, Korotkov drinks three bottles of church wine. Trying to calm down and forget everything. He has a severe headache and vomits twice. In the end, Bartholomew nevertheless firmly decides to restore the documents, but never again to see Longsoner and not to appear in Spimat. In the distance, he hears a clock chiming, after 40 counts, he cries and then vomits again.

Decoupling

In the morning, Korotkov again comes to the eighth floor, where he finds a claims bureau. In it, seven women sit at typewriters. As soon as he wanted to at least say something, the brunette, who was sitting on the edge, pulls him out into the corridor, declaring that she was ready to give herself to him immediately. Korotkov refuses, assuring that his documents were stolen from him. The brunette kisses him anyway. At this moment appearslustrine old man.

He is called Kolobkov Kolobkov, declaring that, no matter how hard he tries, he will not kiss the business trip. Moreover, he threatens to file a complaint with accusation of molestation. At the end, she begins to cry, suspecting Bartholomew of trying to get the lift from the old man.

The main character becomes hysterical, but then the next petitioner is called. He finds himself in front of a blond who asks him: "Irkutsk or Poltava?" Then he pulls out the drawer of the table, from where the secretary crawls out. A brunette appears, who screams that she has already sent the documents to Poltava and is also going there, since her aunt lives there. Korotkov declares that he does not want to go to any Poltava, and the blond again makes him choose between the two cities.

In Korotkov's imagination, the blond begins to grow in size. The wall falls apart, and the typewriters on the tables begin to play the foxtrot. All women start dancing. An unknown man in white trousers with purple stripes appears from the car. Korotkov starts whining and banging his head against the corner of the table. The old man at this moment begins to whisper to him that there is only one salvation left - to go to Dyrkin in the fifth department. It starts to smell like ether, unknown hands carry the protagonist into the corridor. It smells of dampness sinking into an abyss.

Cab with two Shorts falls down. The first goes outside, and the second remains in her mirror. A fat man in a top hat appears and promises to arrest Bartholomew. In response, he laughs terribly, declaring that nothing will work, since he himselfknows who he is. And then he demands to answer whether he came across Longjohn. The fat man is already terrified. He also sends Korotkov to Dyrkin, warning that he is now formidable. They take the elevator upstairs.

Dyrkin is sitting in a cozy office. As soon as Korotkov enters, he jumps up from the table, demanding to be quiet, although Bartholomew has not had time to say anything yet. At the same moment, a young man appears with a briefcase, and a smile appears on Dyrkin's face. The young man starts to give him a dressing down, hits his ear with his briefcase, and threatens Korotkov with a red fist.

The humiliated Dyrkin laments that the reward for his diligence turned out to be so ungrateful. Moreover, he offers to take a candelabra if his hand hurts. Korotkov, who does not understand anything, hits him on the head with a candelabra. Dyrkin runs away, shouting "guard". A cuckoo appears from the clock. She turns into a bald head who promises to record how Bartholomew beats employees.

Korotkov's rage seizes again, he throws the candelabra at the watch, then Longjohn emerges from them. He hides behind the door, turning into a white rooster. Immediately in the corridor, a cry of Dyrkin is heard: "Catch him!" Korotkov rushes to run away.

He runs up the imposing stairs with a white rooster, a fat man's top hat, a boy with a gun in his hands, a candelabrum and some other people. Korotkov runs out into the street first, ahead of the chandelier and top hat. On the way, passers-by shy away from him, someone hoots and whistles, shouts are heard: "Hold it!" Shots are heard, and the main character rushes to the 11-story building on the corner. Running intomirrored vestibule, he sits down in the elevator on the sofa opposite another Korotkov. As the elevator moves up, gunshots are heard below.

Upstairs Korotkov jumps out, listening to what is happening behind him. A rumble grows from below, the sound of balls from the billiard room is heard from the side. Korotkov runs in there with a battle cry, locks himself up and arm himself with balloons. As soon as the first head appears near the elevator, the shelling begins. In response, the crack of a machine gun sounds, the windows burst.

Korotkov understands that he will not be able to hold this position. He runs out onto the roof while being advised from behind to give up. Picking up billiard balls that have rolled all over the place, he stops near the parapet, looking down. His heart skips a beat at this moment. He sees people who have shrunk to the size of ants, gray figures dancing near the entrance, and behind them a heavy toy dotted with golden heads. These are firefighters. Bartholomew realizes that he is surrounded.

Bending over, he throws three balls down one after the other. The bug people downstairs scatter to the sides. As he bends down to pick up more shells, people emerge from the billiard room. Above them stands a luster-colored old man, a formidable Roller Sweater, holding a blunderbuss in his hands.

The courage of death falls upon Korotkov. He climbs the parapet, thinking that death is better than disgrace. At this moment, the pursuers are literally two steps away from him. The protagonist sees hands outstretched towards him and how flames burst out of Pantser's mouth. But the sunny abyss is already persistently beckoning the former clerk Bartholomew. With a piercing triumphant cry,jumps, flies up, and then rushes into the abyss, approaching the narrow gap of the alley. The last phrases of the story are dedicated to how the bloody sun bursts in his head.

Main idea

The story "Diaboliad" is an earlier work of the author, in which he presents bureaucracy and narrow-mindedness as the main oppressors of human life. Its main character is a petty official, lost in the Soviet state machine, which becomes a symbol of the work.

When analyzing Bulgakov's Diaboliad, it should be noted that this story may remind many of Gogol's Overcoat. Like Akaky Akakievich, Korotkov is seeking justice, trying to get it for himself. He wants to regain his place as a clerk, which he lost because of a mysterious new manager. He loses peace and the meaning of life, plunging more and more into his own worldview. Over time, it becomes completely absurd.

The meaning of the "Diaboliad" is a combination of the real and the impossible, which creates a feeling of two worlds in the work. At the end of the work, it turns out that the whole point is the split personality of the protagonist.

In the analysis of the "Diaboliad" it should be noted that Bulgakov in this story managed to paint a picture of the then situation of the big city in gloomy tones. The work is full of grotesque devices, because of which it is very difficult to read.

The plot of the work is interestingly built, from which it becomes completely incomprehensible how the hero ends up in one place or another, what he does, what happens to him in generalhappening. When analyzing the work "Diaboliad", we come to the conclusion that this indicates the complete confusion and uncertainty that always takes place in a transitional era.

It is symbolic that the main character is paid with matches, and his neighbor - with church wine. All this further convinces the idea that it is the state, which grinds ordinary ordinary citizens, that makes people selfish and cruel. This conclusion can be reached after the analysis of Bulgakov's Diaboliad.