Contemplation in Absurdity: On the Narrative Characteristics of The Master and Margarita

Abstract

In The Master and Margarita, a classic Russian magical realist novel, three major narrative lines spanning time and space constitute the most prominent structural features of its narrative framework [1]. However, beyond the connection and embedding of these three lines, the primary narrative level, as the core linking chapter contents, possesses immense literary structural value and significance in its internal structure. The other two lines are connected and interwoven on this basis [2]. The author delicately endows each chapter with the novel’s writing intent and core, taking chapters of the primary narrative level as units of narrative clues, embedding philosophy and thought in seemingly absurd plots, and enriching the depth of the work. In addition to the explicit lines, the author develops an independent implicit line around the theme of "divinity", through which he conveys his reflections on God and truth, which is also worthy of indepth exploration. By stringing together relevant objects and contents, Bulgakov’s contemplation can be studied from another perspective.