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Who Is Mikhail Berlioz In The Master And Margarita

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Mikhail Berlioz is an instrumental character in the introduction to The Master and Margarita, written by Mikhail Bulgakov. The chairman of prominent Moscow literary association MASSOLIT, Berlioz is clearly a respectable individual, as is further advocated by his attire and the demeanor in which he behaves himself. Described as a man being “approximately forty years old, dressed in a grey summer suit…[with a] neatly shaven face…[carrying] his respectable fedora hat in his hand,” (7) Berlioz spares no expense in conveying where he is in society.
In a way, he can be considered a quintessential character of the time period: one that is a proponent of the government and the values that they relay and endorse to the public. One of his major strengths—or in this case, weaknesses—is in fact this unspoken loyalty. It is perhaps even before he is even able to reciprocate the uneasiness that being in the presence of the foreigner bestows upon him that it becomes increasingly clear that this interaction will be nothing but not detrimental. When it comes to dealing with mysterious outsiders, it can be assumed that opportunities are scarce in the closely monitored society in which they reside. This encounter, however, throws him head first into the deep end. It takes some time for Berlioz to truly get a read on his guest, and actually develops a penchant towards him upon his initial greeting. These feelings, no matter how evanescent they prove to be, …show more content…

The eventual death of Berlioz could act as an impetus that propels the novel forward in a novel direction, and forces those that knew him to reconsider their lives and what precisely they are living

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