Yeshua Conversation with Pontius Pilate. The system of images of the novel

The novel The Master and Margarita, on which Mikhail Bulgakov worked from 1927 to 1940, brought him worldwide fame. In the USSR, the novel was published after the death of the writer, thanks to the efforts of his wife. This is how we learned about the Master and Margarita, Woland and his retinue, Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri. Bulgakov wanted to find out what underlies human behavior? A combination of circumstances or a series of accidents, predestination or following some moral ideals? The author seeks answers to these questions in the chapters devoted to Yeshua and Pontius Pilate.
For the first time we learn about the procurator from the lips of Woland. “In the early morning of the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan, wearing a white cloak with bloody lining, shuffling with a cavalry gait, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, came out into the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great,” Woland tells Berlioz and Bezdomny. And we are transported to ancient world Yershalaim, to the fountain, where Pontius Pilate is already sitting in an armchair, ready to start interrogating another criminal. "Bring the accused," the procurator orders. A man is brought in “in an old and torn blue chiton,” with a white strap around his forehead. How different are the portraits of the characters! Pilate, although in a white cloak, but with a bloody lining - this indicates that the procurator is followed by a “bloody trail” of people killed and sentenced to death. And Yeshua, on the contrary, is pure in soul, it is not for nothing that his chiton is the color of the sky, but his fate is sealed, a white bandage around his forehead is proof of this.
Bulgakov does not retell, but rethinks the gospel story. Yeshua (Jesus) is not the son of God, but a man who personifies goodness and justice. But, like Jesus, he is doomed to torment.
The interrogation starts normally. Pilate asks traditional questions: “Name?”, “Is there a nickname?”, “Where are you from?” Nothing touches Pontius Pilate, a stony expression froze on his face, it would seem that nothing can disturb the icy calm. “The swollen eyelid lifted, the eye covered with a haze of suffering stared at the arrested man,” when the procurator heard that the poor tramp knew several languages. But despite this, Pilate's voice still sounded monotonous and quiet, and his thoughts were directed inside the palace, to his dog Banga, the only creature who loved him. All these desires show us an ordinary sick person, with simple human weaknesses, and not the “fierce monster,” as everyone called him, as Pilate himself called himself.
The procurator's mood changes when he accidentally asks the question: "What is truth?" And he gets the answer: “The truth is that your head hurts ... and you cowardly think about death ...”. Horror flickered on the stone face of the hegemon, martyr's eyes looked at the prisoner. Although Pilate had overcome this surge of emotions in himself, his face no longer looked so indifferent.
“Untie his hands,” the procurator orders, thereby shocking the witness of their conversation, the secretary. Bulgakov describes to us the face and actions of a secretary who knows Pilate well. He wonders more and more strange behavior the hegemon, after all, the secretary knew perfectly well how Pilate dealt with the impudent prisoners. But this time it didn't work out that way. The procurator asks him not to write down any more, and then orders him to leave altogether. Gradually, the fate of the prisoner becomes indifferent to Pilate. He understands that a person who loves all people cannot be a criminal. A simple formula formed in the head of the procurator: he examined the case of a wandering philosopher, but "did not find any corpus delicti in it." To do this, it was necessary that Yeshua "admit" that he did not say anything about Caesar. Pilate asks the question: “Did you ever say anything about the great Caesar? Spoke? ... Or ... didn't ... speak? The anxious eyes on Pilate's strange face suggested the correct answer, but Yeshua didn't understand the hint. The procurator realized that the case was hopeless. He addresses the convoy with hatred: "Leave me alone with the criminal." Pilate is angry that Yeshua did not understand his hint that he is preaching something that will never happen:
- And the kingdom of truth will come?
- It will come, hegemon
- It will never come!
What happened to Pontius Pilate? With a man-monster who hates people and Yershalaim? The wandering philosopher awakened in the procurator a storm of emotions that had been dormant in him for a long time.
"Criminal!". "Criminal!" - Pilate shouts in a broken voice, knowing that in the palace of Herod the Great "even the walls have ears." Fear and despair seized the procurator. The kingdom of truth, in which there are no Caesars and power. Authorities! It was to her that the “fifth procurator of Judea, the horseman Pontius Pilate” walked over the corpses. Having achieved power, he doomed himself to terrible loneliness, he was forced not to trust anyone. And then some vagabond crosses out everything that Pilate lived for, what he aspired to for a long time. The worst thing is that now the procurator himself understood that power is not the highest happiness. But he could not share the fate of Yeshua, he, like any person, is subject to a terrible vice - cowardice, fear for his life. Therefore, it is better to live in solitude and incomprehension than to die with a vagabond preaching ideas about the kingdom of truth.
Yeshua is taken away. Pilate makes one last desperate attempt to save the "mad dreamer and doctor". But the Small Sanhedrin makes a decision - to release in honor of the great feast of Easter not Yeshua, but Bar-Rabban. The fate of Ha-Notsri is sealed.
With the help of this episode, Bulgakov wanted to answer the question, what is freedom and lack of freedom? Is the great Pontius Pilate free? I think not. He is dependent on the people around him. The procurator, being Caesar's viceroy, cannot act according to his conscience, release a person who has become close to him in such a short period of time. Pilate will be severely punished for his cowardice, many nights he will be tormented by the fact that "something was not finished then, long ago, on the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan."
Is Yeshua free? Physically - no, but he is free in the main thing - in choice life purpose. Yeshua, even to save his life, did not step over his convictions, his faith, his God! In my opinion, this is true freedom!
At the end of the novel, Pilate receives freedom from the lips of the Master who wrote about him. I think he deserved it with his remorse.
The story of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua contains eternal values, truths, eternal vices. She taught me a lot, made me think about true freedom.

Considered his most important work. In this work, the demonic and the divine coexist, the fantastic mixes with the ordinary, satirical image Moscow in the 30s of the XX century is interspersed with soulful lyrical chapters about the love of the Master and Margarita. The novel itself consists of two books - the Master's novel about Pilate and the novel about the fate of the Master. "Yershalaim" chapters carry the main philosophical meaning novel, turn a work about the fate of a separate creative personality- sometimes topical and satirical - in a work about the fate of mankind, they place it in the context of world culture.
The second chapter of the novel (and the first of the novel about Pilate) is the philosophical center of the work, it puts such important for artistic world Bulgakov questions like the problem of conscience, cowardice, moral questions about love, good and evil. In the second chapter, Yeshua Ha-Nozri, a wandering philosopher, is brought to Pilate for interrogation, accused of inciting the inhabitants of the city to riot. The image of Yeshua evokes in the reader associations with gospel Jesus. He preaches "the kingdom of truth and justice", speaks of the kindness of all people, cures the procurator of an unbearable headache. At the same time, there are significant discrepancies between the images of Jesus and Yeshua: Yeshua has no followers, except for the former tax collector Levi Matthew, a man “with goat parchment”, who writes down the speeches of Ha-Nozri, but “records incorrectly.” Perhaps, in this way, the author wanted to emphasize the loneliness and defenselessness of all smart and kind people who carry with them the “new” word. One can draw a parallel between Yeshua and the Master, who “had no relatives anywhere and had almost no acquaintances in Moscow,” who renounced “everything in life.”
The meeting with Yeshua produces a revolution in the soul of the procurator of Judea. The interrogation scene opens with a description of the appearance of Pontius Pilate. The detail of his clothes immediately catches the eye: “bloody lining” white raincoat, which symbolizes the high position of the procurator of Judea in the hierarchy of rulers, his bloody right to decide the fate of people. At the beginning of the interrogation, the procurator himself explains to Yeshua: “In Yershalaim, everyone whispers about me that I am a ferocious monster, and this is absolutely true.” Also, the “bloody lining” seems to portend the onset of terrible events associated with the execution of Yeshua.
The images of Pilate and Yeshua are contrasted and simultaneously compared with each other. According to the plot, in the interrogation scene, Pilate is the executioner, and Yeshua is his innocent victim. But Yeshua himself thinks differently and asks Pilate's forgiveness for "unwittingly" becoming his executioner. From the very beginning of the interrogation, Pilate was tormented by a terrible headache, and even the voice of the accused caused him incredible suffering. The fact that Pilate's head hurts so badly that he "cowardly thinks about death" reduces his image of an unshakable ruler, turns him into ordinary person with their problems and attachments. Pilate is alone. The only creature he would like to see is his dog.
As an ordinary (and “very smart”) person, Yeshua treats the formidable procurator. At his word, Pilate's excruciating headache passes, the interrogation becomes a conversation, which horrifies Pilate's secretary, who is not accustomed to hearing the conversation of two free people. This conversation reveals the essence of Yeshua's philosophy. The “wandering philosopher” considers all people “good”, even the terrible centurion Ratslayer, about whom he speaks to Pilate: “Since the good people disfigured him, he has become cruel and callous.” Yeshua is not afraid of death, he is not afraid of the power of Pilate, who threatens Yeshua to “cut” the thread on which his life hangs. Yeshua is sure: “Only the one who hung it up can probably cut the hair.” He also calls the traitor Judas “good”, pities him and worries about his life, which causes the procurator’s “strange smile”.
More important than the philosophy of Yeshua is the internal moral struggle that takes place in the soul of Pontius Pilate for the problems of the novel. He understands that the "wandering philosopher" is innocent, he passionately wants to talk with him longer. Despite the fact that cruelty and treachery live in Pilate's soul, the procurator is still able to realize his loneliness, the "poverty" of his life, to comprehend the philosophy of Yeshua. With Yeshua in Pilate's heart comes a lightness of release, a long-forgotten feeling of joy. The upheaval in Pilate's soul is symbolized by the swallow that flies into the hall during the conversation between the procurator and Yeshua, its quick and easy flight embodies freedom, in particular freedom of conscience. It was during her flight that Pilate decided to justify the "wandering philosopher" in his head. But when the “lèse majesté law” intervenes, Pilate follows the same swallow with a “frantic gaze”, realizing the illusory nature of his freedom.
The concept of conscience is closely connected in the novel with the concept of power. Pilate, the procurator of Judea, is the representative of the emperor Tiberius, who cannot give up his career in order to save the "holy fool" Yeshua. Yeshua seems crazy because for him there is no fear in the world, there are no cruel and vile laws invented by people, he is free. Pilate is opposed to him as a man who monitors the implementation of cowardly laws. Power turns out to be his weak point, overpowering the voice of conscience. The opposition of power and conscience becomes one of the main motives of The Master and Margarita.
The pangs of conscience for Pontius Pilate are expressed in an incomprehensible, unbearable longing. This melancholy embraces everything: his regret that “Ha-Notsri left forever, and there is no one to heal the terrible, evil pains of the procurator”; and a vague feeling that he “didn’t finish something with the convict, or maybe he didn’t listen to something.” At the end of the interrogation, when Yeshua, anxious, humanly asks the “hegemon” to let him go, Pilate, as if frightened by the fact that a few minutes ago he spoke with the condemned on an equal footing, renounces Yeshua: “... do you think I am ready to take your place? I don't share your thoughts! Punishment for Pontius Pilate for his cowardice, which, according to Yeshua, is "the most terrible vice", is immortality and "unheard of glory." And 2000 years later, people will still remember and repeat the name of the procurator as the name of the person who condemned the “wandering philosopher” to death.
Thus, the interrogation scene is the philosophical and moral core of the novel's problems. This scene is associated with the gospel scene of the interrogation of Jesus Christ. But unlike the Gospel, in the novel, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, becomes the main character of the “Yershalaim” chapters, with the image of which such important questions for the author are connected as the problem of power and conscience, the question of cowardice and betrayal. The appeal and rethinking of the images of the Holy Scripture deepens the problems of the novel, turns it from a description of a separate human destiny in reflection on the fate of all mankind.

Topic. The system of images of the novel. Multifaceted, multi-level narration: from symbolic (biblical or mythological) to satirical (everyday).

The purpose of the lesson: analysis of the system of images of the novel based on the "biblical" chapters, to show the meaning of the images of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri; to show the multifaceted, multi-level nature of M. Bulgakov's narration.

Equipment: portrait of M.A. Bulgakov, the text of the novel.

During the classes.

1. Organizational moment.

2. Checking homework.

3. Opening remarks.

The novel by M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" is a multidimensional and multilayered work. It combines, closely intertwined, mysticism and satire, the most unbridled fantasy and merciless realism, light irony and intense philosophy. As a rule, several semantic, figurative subsystems are distinguished in the novel: everyday, connected with Woland's stay in Moscow, lyrical, telling about the love of the Master and Margarita, and philosophical, comprehending the biblical story through the images of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, as well as the problems of creativity based on literary material. the work of the Master. One of the main philosophical problems The novel is the problem of the relationship between good and evil: the personification of good is Yeshua Ha-Notsri, and the embodiment of evil is Woland.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is, as it were, a double novel, consisting of the Master's novel about Pontius Pilate and a work about the fate of the Master himself, connected with the life of Moscow in the 30s of the XX century. Both novels are united by one idea - the search for truth and the struggle for it.

4. The image of Pontius Pilate

The central and most dramatic character in the "gospel" chapters of the novel is the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, who had a reputation as a "ferocious monster". “In a white cloak with a bloody lining, shuffling with a cavalry gait, in the early morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, entered the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great”

The most important moral and philosophical problems of the novel are connected with the image of Pontius Pilate - the problem of choice, responsibility for deeds, power, truth and the meaning of human existence.

How does this problem translate into chapters on modernity? (Analysis of the 1st chapter)

1. Where does the theme of Christ begin?

2. On what and why does Berlioz insist?

3. How does Woland refute Berlioz's position?

4. What is the symbolic meaning of Berlioz's death?

5. How do you understand Woland's words: "To each will be given according to his faith"?

6. How does this idea relate to the images of Yeshua and Pilate?

(Berlioz insists that Jesus Christ did not exist, thereby denying his preaching of kindness and mercy, truth and justice, the idea of ​​"good will." The image of Berlioz is devoid of a moral basis, therefore his "murder" (by a Komsomol member) acquires a deeply symbolic meaning “Everyone is rewarded according to his faith.” Yeshua, the bearer of the truth, gains immortality, and Pontius Pilate, who betrayed the truth, is doomed to eternal suffering.)

Analysis of the 2nd chapter.

How does his portrait reveal Pilate's character?

What kind of person is Pilate?

Pilate is cruel, he is called "fierce monster". And he is proud of it. Behind Pilate big life warrior, full of struggle, deprivation, danger. Only the strongest, who does not know fear, pity, compassion, wins in it. Pilate knows that the winner is always alone, he has no friends, only enemies and envious people. He despises the mob, indifferently sending people to execution.

There is no person around Pilate with whom he would just want to talk. The only creature he is attached to is Bang's dog. Pilate is sure: the world is based on violence and power. But power and greatness do not make him happy.

The official duties of Pontius Pilate brought him together with the accused from Gamala, Yeshua Ha-Nozri. The procurator of Judea is ill with a debilitating disease, and the vagabond is beaten by the people to whom he preached sermons. The physical suffering of each is proportional to their social positions. Almighty Pilate unreasonably suffers from such headaches that he is even ready to take poison: “The thought of poison suddenly flashed temptingly in the sick head of the procurator.” And the poor Yeshua, although beaten by people whose kindness he is convinced and to whom he carries his teaching about goodness, nevertheless, does not suffer from this at all, for physical torment only tests and strengthens his faith.

The appearance of Yeshua Ha-Nozri illuminates the life of Pilate. This man speaks frankly to Pilate, despite the fact that he is physically weak and suffering from beatings. During the interrogation of Yeshua, Pilate suddenly realizes that his mind no longer obeys, he asks the accused a question that should not be asked in court: “What is truth?”

Pilate decides to save Yeshua from execution, realizing his innocence. Pilate is faced with a choice: save an innocent wandering philosopher and lose his power, and possibly his life, or save his position by executing an innocent and acting against his conscience.

What is Pilate doing to stop Yeshua from being executed?

How does he behave when the execution can no longer be prevented?

What makes Pilate go against his conscience? (fear, cowardice)

Why is cowardice called the worst vice in the novel?

What is Pilate going through after Yeshua's death? (dream of Pilate ch.26)

What is the punishment prepared for Pilate? (ch.31)

The awakened conscience leads Pilate to try to save Yeshua, using the tradition of pardon on the Easter holiday. Then, when it is no longer possible to prevent the execution, he strives to end the suffering of Yeshua, authorizes the murder of Judas, who betrayed him. But all these attempts do not allow Pilate to atone for his guilt, to clear his conscience. Cowardice does not allow a strong and powerful person to make the right moral choice, it forces him to retreat from the truth that has been revealed to him. Pilate's punishment is in his immortality. The hero hates his immortality, because it is the immortality of a traitor.

Bulgakov, in the image of Pontius Pilate, recreated a living person, with an individual character, torn apart by conflicting feelings and passions, inside of which there is a struggle between good and evil. Yeshua, initially considering all people to be kind, sees in him an unfortunate person, exhausted by a terrible disease, withdrawn into himself, lonely. Yeshua sincerely wants to help him. But endowed with power, powerful and formidable, Pilate is not free. Circumstances forced him to pass the death sentence on Yeshua. However, this was dictated to the procurator not by the cruelty attributed to him by everyone, but by cowardice - that vice that the wandering philosopher classifies as "the most difficult."

In the novel, the image of Pontius the dictator is decomposed and transformed into a suffering person. The power in his person loses the stern and faithful executor of the law, the image acquires a humanistic connotation. The dual life of Pilate is the inevitable behavior of a man squeezed in the grip of power, his post. During the trial of Yeshua, Pilate, with greater force than before, feels in himself a lack of harmony and a strange loneliness. From the very collision of Pontius Pilate with Yeshua, Bulgakov's idea that tragic circumstances are stronger than people's intentions dramatically follows. Even such rulers as the Roman procurator are not in a position to act according to their own will.

Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri are discussing human nature. Yeshua believes in the presence of goodness in the world, in the predestination of historical development leading to a single truth. Pilate is convinced of the inviolability of evil, its ineradicability in man. Both are wrong. At the end of the novel, they continue their two-thousand-year dispute on the lunar road, bringing them together forever; so evil and good merged together in human life.

On the pages of the novel, Bulgakov gives us the truth about how the "people's court" is administered. Let us recall the scene of pardoning one of the criminals in honor of the feast of Holy Pascha. The author depicts not just the customs of the Jewish people. He shows how they destroy those objectionable to units by the hands of thousands, how the blood of the prophets falls on the conscience of peoples. The mob saves the real criminal from death and dooms Yeshua to it. "Crowd! Universal Killer! Means of all times and peoples. Crowd! What to take from her? The voice of the people! How not to listen? The lives of the departed "uncomfortable" people crush like stones, burn like coals. And I want to shout: “It was not! Did not have!". But after all, it was ... Both Pontius Pilate and Joseph Kaifa are real people who left their mark on history.

Evil and good are not generated from above, but by people themselves, so a person is free in his choice. He is free from fate and from surrounding circumstances. And if he is free to choose, then he is fully responsible for his actions. This is, according to Bulgakov, a moral choice. Moral position personality is constantly in the center of Bulgakov's attention. Cowardice, combined with lies as a source of betrayal, envy, malice and other vices that a moral person is able to keep under control, is the breeding ground for despotism and unreasonable power. “He (fear) is able to turn a smart, courageous and benevolent person into a miserable rag, to weaken and defame. The only thing that can save him is inner stamina, trust in his own mind and the voice of his conscience.

5. The image of Yeshua Ha-Nozri

Yeshua is the embodiment of a pure idea. He is a philosopher, a wanderer, a preacher of kindness, love and mercy. His goal was to make the world cleaner and kinder. Yeshua's life philosophy is this: "There are no evil people in the world, there are unhappy people." " kind person”, - he turns to the procurator, and for this he is beaten by Ratslayer. But the point is not that he addresses people like that, but that he really behaves with every ordinary person as if he were the embodiment of goodness. There is virtually no portrait of Yeshua in the novel: the author indicates the age, describes the clothes, facial expression, mentions bruises and abrasions - but nothing more: “... They brought in a man of about twenty-seven. This man was dressed in an old and tattered blue tunic. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye, and an abrasion with dried blood in the corner of his mouth.

To Pilate's question about his relatives, he answers: “There is no one. I am alone in the world." But this does not sound like a complaint about loneliness. Yeshua does not seek compassion, there is no feeling of inferiority or orphanhood in him.

The power of Yeshua Ha-Nozri is so great and so all-encompassing that at first many take it for weakness, even for spiritual lack of will. However, Yeshua Ga-Notsri is not a simple person: Woland thinks of himself with him in the heavenly hierarchy on approximately equal footing. Bulgakov's Yeshua is the bearer of the idea of ​​a god-man. In his hero, the author sees not only a religious preacher and reformer: the image of Yeshua embodies free spiritual activity. Possessing a developed intuition, a subtle and strong intellect, Yeshua is able to guess the future, and not just a thunderstorm, which “will begin later, towards evening,” but also the fate of his teaching, which is already being incorrectly expounded by Levi.

Yeshua is inwardly free. He boldly says what he considers the truth, what he himself has come to, with his own mind. Yeshua believes that harmony will come to the tormented earth and the kingdom of eternal spring, eternal love will come. Yeshua is relaxed, the power of fear does not weigh on him. “Among other things, I said,” said the prisoner, “that all power is violence against people and that the time will come when there will be no power of either Caesars or any other power. A person will pass into the realm of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all. Yeshua courageously bears all the suffering inflicted on him. It burns the fire of all-forgiving love for people. He is sure that only good has the right to change the world. Realizing that he is threatened with the death penalty, he considers it necessary to tell the Roman governor: “Your life is meager, hegemon. The trouble is that you are too closed off and completely lost faith in people.

Speaking of Yeshua, it is impossible not to mention his unusual name. If the first part - Yeshua - transparently alludes to the name of Jesus, then the "dissonance of the plebeian name" - Ha-Notsri - "so mundane" and "secularized" in comparison with the solemn church one - Jesus, as if called upon to confirm the authenticity of Bulgakov's story and its independence from evangelical tradition.

Despite the fact that the plot seems complete - Yeshua is executed, the author seeks to assert that the victory of evil over good cannot be the result of a social and moral confrontation, this, according to Bulgakov, is not accepted by human nature itself, should not be allowed by the entire course of civilization: Yeshua remained alive, he is dead only to Levi, to Pilate's servants.

The great tragic philosophy of Yeshua's life is that truth is tested and affirmed by death. The tragedy of the hero is in his physical death, but morally he wins.

6. The result of the lesson.

D.Z.s.69-70, Ind. Task: prepare a characterization of the heroes: Art. Likhodeeva (ch. 7), Varenukhi (10, 14), Nikan. Iv. Barefoot (9), Poplavsky, barman Sokov (ch. 18), "Costume" and "Glorious Sea" (ch. 17-27)

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is an amazing, mysterious work that includes two narrative plans: satirical (everyday) and symbolic (biblical). Of the twenty-six chapters of the novel, four are devoted to the events of biblical history as interpreted by Bulgakov. This is a kind of "novel within a novel." At the same time, in biblical story the writer expresses his cherished philosophical ideas about the opposition between good and evil. One of the central episodes of the novel is the interrogation of Yeshua by Pontius Pilate. The interrogation scene is depicted in the chapter "Pontius Pilate". The procurator's introduction begins with detail (“in a white cloak with bloody lining…”). This technique helps the author to show his character as authentically as possible. The great procurator appears before us not as an official, but as a person with his inherent shortcomings and weaknesses. It is no coincidence that the author says that Pilate hates the smell of rose oil. Internal monologue character testifies to his physical torment. Pilate is ill with hemicrania, he constantly experiences severe physical torments and headaches. The speech of the procurator is concise, significant. Huge power is concentrated in his hands, and Pilate understands this. The spring day of the fourteenth became a fateful day in his life. That day he met Yeshua. Pilate had to pass judgment on him. The appearance of Yeshua brings special lyrical intonations to the novel. What is Yeshua? A man dressed in an "old blue tunic", with a "white bandage", wounded, disfigured by abrasions. He is amazingly natural and kind. It is symbolic that the first words he utters are: “Good man! Believe me…". Yeshua does not just answer during interrogation, but talks with the procurator like a person to a person. The naturalness of Yeshua contrasts with the lack of freedom, constraint, and suffering of the procurator. The procurator uses his usual methods, uses violence, forcing the Ratslayer to beat Yeshua. Mark Ratslayer is a gigantic warrior, he symbolizes the reliance of official power on force, despotism, and the suppression of man. The author subtly intonation beats each phrase of the characters. Pontius Pilate is rude, demanding, intolerant. Yeshua is sincere, simple. Formally, we have an interrogation, but its participants are gradually moving to natural communication. It is on the dialogue between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate that a great semantic load lies. The internal state of the procurator changes throughout the conversation. At first he is depressed, gloomy. He is burdened by the duties of hegemon, tormented by an unbearable headache, sunshine. He is tormented even to look at the accused. He puts his condition above responsibility for the fate of a person. It is not for nothing that Pilate's depression culminates at the moment when the thought flashed through his mind to immediately execute Yeshua and take poison. The dialogue subtly blends with Pilate's inner speech. Unbeknownst to himself, he asks questions that do not correspond to the protocol. He seeks to understand the motives behind the behavior of the tramp, embarrassing the people: “Why did you, tramp, embarrass the people in the bazaar, telling about the truth about which you have not the slightest idea? What is truth? At this moment, Yeshua pronounces the key secret words of the entire episode: “The truth is, first of all, that your head hurts…” These words shock the procurator. He understands that he is far from a common person. He relieves the pain of Pontius Pilate, feels his condition, knows about his only attachment to the dog Bango. Again, Bulgakov introduces a detail into the narrative (the eyes of the procurator sparkled with hope). Yeshua confesses to him that he considers all people to be kind. This discovery struck Pilate, who had long since lost faith in people. Yeshua's hands were untied. The terrible vision that for a moment seized the procurator is contrasted with a swallow that suddenly flew under the arches of the palace. It is a symbol of eternal hope. Pilate's plans to save Yeshua legally did not come to fruition. This was prevented by a denunciation by Judas from Kiriath. Every movement, every word of Pilate is imbued with inner uncertainty, fear. He appears before the reader contradictory and suffering. Physical torments (headache, blood rushing to the temples) betray his mental suffering. Pilate is in disharmony not only with the world, but also with himself. He has forgotten how to believe in people. And Yeshua seems wonderful to him. But the secret of his miracles is kindness, observation, sympathy, compassion. key value in the episode belongs to the concept of truth. Yeshua sees it in concrete manifestations, he sees the good nature of people, no matter what actions they take towards him. Truth is always concrete. It is transparent to those who seek to see it. People often go to great lengths to distort this truth. They became slaves. The accused speaks of the time when man will return to harmony, become more conscious and will not need kings and armies. Yeshua is calm and harmonious. He lives in harmony with the world and with himself. Yeshua understands the value of life. With his harmony, Yeshua attracts Pilate to him. Something incredible is happening. The formidable procurator feels sympathy for the sentenced prisoner. The episode of Yeshua's interrogation reflects one of the central issues novel - the problem of guilt and responsibility. This is the theme of Pontius Pilate. Bulgakov shows that a person always has a choice. But whatever it is, you will have to bear responsibility for it. The procurator's fear prevented him from acting in accordance with his convictions. Pilate's fault is not that he hastened Yeshua's execution. If he did this in accordance with the concept of duty and honor, there would be no fault for him. It's his fault that he didn't do what he should have done. “A hateful city,” the procurator suddenly muttered for some reason and shrugged his shoulders, as if he were cold, and rubbed them, as if washing them ... The famous gesture, thanks to which Pilate's name became a household name, as the expression "wash your hands" became. With this symbolic gesture, Pilate demonstrates his indifferent indifference to what is happening. This gesture is nothing more than a sign of reinsurance. This gesture is a sign of the strongest spiritual movement. The procurator himself does not understand what is happening to him. He does not want Ga-Notsri to be executed, and suffers from the consciousness of his powerlessness. In fact, it is in his power to save the philosopher. He suffers because he does not do what his conscience tells him to do. This is what the fear that controls his entire being tells him to do. It is for fear that he is liable to trial higher powers. Turning to eternal questions, Bulgakov uses an allegory. The main question with which Yeshua addresses his judge is indicative: “If I am wrong, then prove what I am wrong about, and if I am right, then why do you scold me?” Rhetorical questions and appeals help hide book quotes scripture. The language of the characters is individualized, but author's speech remains emphatically neutral. The images of Pilate and Yeshua are symbolic. They are essentially opposites of each other, but at the end of the novel they walk together on an endless moonlit road. The interrogation scene brings together not only two heroes, but two life principles, harmony and disharmony, fear and awareness. The questions raised by the author in the conversation between Yeshua and Pilate are eternal questions that every reader should think about.

Amazing, original, multifaceted composition of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita". Within one work, two novels are intricately intertwined - the story of the fate of the Master and the novel he created about Pontius Pilate. "Yershalaim" chapters are dispersed in the main narrative about the life of the protagonist and the people around him. The literary critic G. A. Lesskis said about this: “Yershalaim and Moscow - two stage platforms for two acts of universal tragedy or mystery - are described in the same lyrical vein.”

An important role for understanding the semantic depths of The Master and Margarita is played by the episode of the interrogation of Yeshua in the palace of Herod the Great.

In the image of the procurator of Judea, the writer draws a strong man, endowed with great power. He majestically gives his orders and severely punishes for their non-fulfillment. At his command, another accused is brought in for interrogation. “This man was dressed in an old and torn blue chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a thong around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye, and an abrasion with dried blood in the corner of his mouth. Fearing to be beaten again, the prisoner looks at the procurator with anxious curiosity.

During the interrogation, Ga-Nozri's assertion that all people are good causes a deep resonance. A good man for Yeshua is Pontius Pilate, whom everyone in Yershalaim considers a ferocious monster, Mark Ratslayer is good for him, causing horror by his appearance alone, Levi Matthew is good, Judas is good. " Evil people not in the world,” says Yeshua, and this is his main commandment.

Pontius Pilate, in spite of everything, is not without human weaknesses. He shows interest in the personality of Ha-Notsri, in his philosophy. Pilate would have liked to hear Yeshua retract his own words so as not to punish him. The procurator, interrogating the prisoner, “stretched out the word“ not ”a little more than it is supposed to be in court, and sent Yeshua in his gaze some thought that he seemed to want to inspire the prisoner” , a little later he sends him “what something suggestive look. However, Ga-Notsri does not renounce his truth. He expresses seditious thoughts about power: "All power is violence against people" - and boldly tells the procurator that he is not in the power to cut the hair that holds him, Yeshua, life.

Pilate does not find the strength in himself to depart from the law. He punishes Ha-Nozri, who preaches uselessness state power. At the same time, the procurator is torn apart internal contradictions. He feels the impact of the moral preaching of Yeshua, trust in him. Pontius Pilate realizes the innocence of the prisoner. However, he is subordinate to Kesa-ryu, whose power is actually denied by Ga-Notsri. Bulgakov puts his hero before a choice: to follow the path of goodness and save an innocent person, losing power and, possibly, life for this, or to give the order for the execution of Yeshua, acting dishonestly in this way. The prisoner himself also faces a choice: he can refuse his words and thereby save his life. Pilate makes a choice between physical and spiritual death in favor of the latter, and Yeshua does the opposite. It is impossible for him to compromise. For the sake of his truth, truth, he is ready to say goodbye to life. He is devoid of the cowardice that prevented Pilate from making the right moral choice.

As a result, Pilate is punished with immortality, and this is the immortality of a traitor, doomed to drag out an existence in the throes of conscience.

Bulgakov poses eternal questions to his reader, raises the most acute problems: good and evil, life and death, choice, responsibility for actions.