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Chapter 8
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Heart of a Dog, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Revolution and Regression
Social Class and Hierarchy
Science, Nature, and Morality
Dignity, Loyalty, and Respect
Summary
Analysis
Sharikov disappears in the morning, so Bormenthal can’t teach him his lesson. Shvonder doesn’t know where Sharikov is, but complains that he stole money from the house committee. And Fyodor can’t find any trace of him. They learn that Sharikov left in the morning with his coat and a stolen bottle of alcohol. Darya and Zina say they hope he never comes back. Three days later, Philip sends the militia to search for him—and he immediately turns up at the apartment, wearing new work clothes and stinking of cats. He explains that, with Shvonder’s help, he got a government job purging stray cats from the city.
Like almost everything else about him, Sharikov’s disappearance and new job highlight the utter absurdity of the new Soviet government. On the one hand, he responded to his conflict with Philip and Bormenthal by getting a job, like a responsible adult. On the other hand, he’s a prime example of irresponsibility: he disappeared precisely in order to avoid consequences for his actions, he’s unhygienic, and his new job caters to his most vulgar, unsophisticated instincts. Bulgakov suggests that the Soviets reward irresponsibility and incompetence, while punishing prudence and intelligence. So it's no surprise that Sharikov fits right into the government.
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Furiously, Bormenthal grabs Sharikov by the throat and orders him to ask Zina and Darya Petrovna for forgiveness. Sharikov pretends to agree, tries and fails to call out for help, then asks for forgiveness and promises never to assault them again. The women tell Bormenthal to release Sharikov, who goes on to explain that he’s moving back into his home—Philip’s apartment. Philip asks what happens to the cats Sharikov kills. Sharikov explains that they get turned into coats and sold to workers, who think they’re buying squirrel fur.
Sharikov doesn’t take responsibility for his behavior—he doesn’t show any remorse or recognize the harm he’s caused. Furthermore, Bormenthal and Philip only get Sharikov to apologize for his actions through violence (and the threat of further violence in the future). Respect and morality totally break down in their household because Sharikov refuses to honor them. Meanwhile, the cat-fur jackets exemplify how the Soviet state shortchanges and deceives the workers it claims to represent. Its principles are just like Sharikov’s: nonexistent. It will take whatever it can get away with, and its ideology is merely a pretense for its self-interest.
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For two days, the apartment is quiet. Everybody, including Sharikov, works during the day and dines peacefully together at night. But after two days, a young woman (Vasnetsova) arrives at the apartment with Sharikov, who explains that she’s his typist and will be moving in with him. Bormenthal leads Sharikov away and Philip tells the young woman that Sharikov was a failed lab experiment. The woman cries. Sharikov told her that he was a war hero, and she hoped he would save her from having to eat the horrible government cafeteria food. She can’t believe Philip found Sharik in the same cafeteria’s doorway.
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Philip brings Vasnetsova out to the waiting room and asks Sharikov to tell her the truth about the scar on his forehead. But he says it was from the war, and the young woman leaves in tears. Sharikov says he’s going to fire her, and Bormenthal furiously asks for her name. Sharikov tells him. Bormenthal grabs Sharikov and says he will shoot Sharikov if he fires her. Sharikov comments that he can get a gun, too, and he runs out of the apartment.
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The next afternoon, Philip gets a surprise visit from one of his patients, a military officer. The officer pulls out a copy of an official report that Sharikov and Shvonder have filed against Philip for counterrevolutionary activities, like threatening Shvonder and telling Zina to burn an Engels book. When Philip asks if he can keep the document or if the officer needs it for a further investigation, the officer is offended—the report is obviously bogus, and there will be no official investigation. Philip apologizes profusely for the offense.
When Sharikov returns to the apartment, Philip and Bormenthal call him into the examination room and order him to move out of the apartment immediately. But Sharikov insists that he has a right to live there. He pulls out a gun and aims it at Bormenthal, who jumps on him and starts choking him with a pillow.
A few minutes later, Bormenthal posts a note on the front door saying that Philip is sick and visiting hours are cancelled. Covered in blood, Bormenthal asks Zina and Darya Petrovna to stay home, and he locks all the doors. That night, the apartment is quiet. The neighbors report that the examination room lights were on all night, and Zina reports that Bormenthal burned a book of patient records. But nobody truly knows what happened on that quiet night.
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