Imp

The Imp is a minor but recurring demonic entity in Woland's retinue, appearing in several guises throughout the Moscow narrative. It manifests as a transparent, checkered-jacketed phantom that frightens Berlioz at the Patriarch's Ponds, as a long-nosed, fanged red-haired assistant named Azazello who helps evict Styopa Likhodeev, and as a vampire-like female creature who attacks Varenukha and Rimsky. These manifestations serve as instruments of terror, punishment, and comic disruption, embodying the novel's carnivalesque inversion of reality and the intrusion of the supernatural into Soviet everyday life.

Manifestations and Appearances

The Imp first appears at the Patriarch's Ponds as a "transparent citizen of the strangest appearance" who "wove himself out of" the sweltering air, wearing a peaked jockey's cap and a short checkered jacket, seven feet tall but narrow-shouldered and unbelievably thin, with a jeering physiognomy. This apparition sways before Berlioz without touching the ground, then dissolves when the editor closes his eyes. Later, the same checkered figure reappears as a flesh-and-blood man with a little moustache like chicken feathers, tiny ironic eyes, and checkered trousers pulled up so high that his dirty white socks show. He directs Berlioz toward the turnstile where the tram-car will kill him. In the bedroom of Apartment No. 50, the Imp takes the form of Azazello, a short but extraordinarily broad-shouldered man with a bowler hat, a fang sticking out of his mouth, and flaming red hair, whose physiognomy is unprecedentedly loathsome. Azazello speaks with a nasal twang and proposes to "chuck" Styopa Likhodeev out of Moscow. The Imp also appears as a naked, red-haired girl with phosphorescent eyes and ice-cold hands who kisses Varenukha in the front hall of the apartment, causing him to faint. This same female creature later appears at the window of Rimsky's office, her arm lengthening rubber-like and becoming covered with putrid green, her fingers clawing at the latch.

Role in the Narrative

The Imp functions as an agent of supernatural punishment and comic disruption. Azazello helps evict Styopa Likhodeev from his apartment, declaring that Styopa has been "up to some terrible swinishness lately" and is "as much a director as I'm a bishop." The female Imp attacks Varenukha in the toilet of the Variety Theatre, striking him on the ear and dragging him to Apartment No. 50, where she kisses him and causes him to faint. Later, she attempts to break into Rimsky's office through the window, but is thwarted by the crowing of a cock, which causes her to emit a hoarse oath and fly out. The Imp also appears in the Spectacles Commission, where a cat-like figure with a "cat's mug" visits Prokhor Petrovich and, after an argument, causes him to vanish, leaving only an empty suit sitting at the desk writing with a dry pen. The Imp's appearances are characterized by suddenness, grotesque physicality, and a blending of terror with absurdity.

Thematic Significance

The Imp embodies the novel's carnivalesque inversion of reality, where the boundaries between the natural and supernatural, the comic and the terrifying, are constantly blurred. Its multiple manifestations—transparent phantom, checkered clown, fanged redhead, vampire woman—reflect the protean nature of evil in Bulgakov's world, which can appear in any guise and strike at any moment. The Imp's attacks on Varenukha and Rimsky, and its role in the eviction of Styopa, serve as punishments for the corruption and incompetence of Soviet officialdom. The Imp's defeat by the cock's crow, a traditional symbol of dawn and the triumph of light over darkness, suggests that even the most terrifying supernatural forces are subject to the natural order. The Imp's presence in the novel underscores the theme that the devil's work is not always grand or philosophical; it can be petty, violent, and absurd, carried out by minor demons who delight in causing chaos and fear.