М. Bulgakov’s Allusions in Н. Stepanyan’s Story “The Last Case of the Investigator”

The novel “The Master and Margarita”, written by M. Bulgakov, was included in a number of genuine masterpieces of Russian literature. The image of Woland is much deeper than all those images of Satan that appeared on the pages of literature. There was no such devil in the world literature before Bulgakov. It is deeper than Andreev’s Satan, Mephistopheles, and Lucifer of O. Stepanyan, who is more reminiscent of a demon. Woland seeks to enrich people with the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. He comes to restore justice, but Lucifer and his entourage not only haven’t built anything, but also destroy what they have built. He drives people to commit the most terrible sins. As a result, the images of devils in the novel of M. Bulgakov and in the story of O. Stepanyan are not only different from each other, but also opposed to each other. If Woland has more human or even divine features, then Lucifer appears before us in a traditional way: the main adversary of God and heavenly forces, who represents the highest personification and symbol of evil, pushes a person on the path of spiritual death, tempts and enslaves.