The Devils (The Possessed)

Literature and language are motifs that play an important role in Devils, not least because the characters themselves place a huge importance on learning, reading, and books. The disconnect between different generations’ views of the symbolism of literacy and language demonstrate the unresolvable differences that make Skvoreshniki such a hotbed for revolutionary ideas.

For men like Stepan, literature and language symbolize a heightened morality. Stepan is a somewhat archaic figure. His ideas are outdated and one of the ways in which he distinguishes himself from the other characters is the way in which he peppers his speech with French. He switches between languages as he searches for the best way in which to express himself. His bilingualism also hints at his pretentious attitudes, as he is keen for the rest of the world to know that he is an educated man. To Stepan, an educated man is a good man. Given the pathetic nature of his life and the regrets he feels for treating his son so badly, Stepan’s need to appear to be a good person is strong. He is almost performative in the way in which he shows off his literacy and his language skills, desperately ensuring that everyone regards him as intelligent. However, his view of intelligence is as outdated as his views on philosophy. The younger generation mocks him for his performative use of language, not sharing his views on intellectualism and morality.

The prevalence of these revolutionary ideas is similarly tied to literacy. Radicals like Shigalyov are educated men, who demonstrate their intellectualism through their grasp of the latest editions of the revolutionary texts. Even a man like Shatov—who has become disillusioned with the revolution—was once the operator of a printing press that distributed radical literature to the masses with the aim of stoking a revolution. Books, pamphlets, and other forms of media are used to convey radical ideas from one person to another. These literary mediums symbolize the way in which ideas propagate and spread. Von Lembke is terrified of the pamphlets because, to him, they represent a catastrophe waiting to happen. If Stepan believed that literature and language were symbols of intelligence and his integration into the status quo, then the younger generation have a very different view. The younger generation is more practical and less reverential: To them, literary mediums and rhetorical language are a means to an end.

While Stepan and Peter have incompatible views of literature and language, other characters show a complete lack of interest in literature but a keen interest in its power as a symbol. Yulia is not particularly well-read. She is not particularly intelligent, as she is easily manipulated by Peter. He convinces her to throw a literary festival, and she hopes that her proximity to this literary festival will raise her social standing. Yulia has a similarly reverential view of literature to Stepan, associating it with a certain cultural cache, but she shares the younger generation’s cynical desire to exploit it for a personal end. In an ironic twist, the festival is a disaster. Yulia had hoped that the event would solidify her standing in the social order, but the end result is quite the opposite. She is embarrassed by insulting poems, boring speakers, and unrefined guests. Even her ball is broken up by the breakout of a fire across the river. Like the burning buildings, her reputation is similarly in flames. To Yulia, literature symbolized a short cut to social credibility. Her lack of understanding of literature, however, meant that she was unable to avert the disaster.