Heart of a Dog Themes

Set in the early days of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Bulgakov’s science fiction satire Heart of a Dog is really an extended allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917. When the mad scientist Professor Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky transplants human organs into a mangy stray dog, Sharik, he’s astonished to watch Sharik take on human form and try to usurp his apartment. Shvonder, the communist head of Philip’s building management committee, helps Sharik the…

The second half of Heart of a Dog centers on the gentleman professor and surgeon Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky’s conflicts with Sharikov, the freakish, vulgar dog-man he creates through a transplant experiment gone awry. During these conflicts, Philip isn’t just defending his own property and privilege: he’s also defending the old Russian aristocracy, which has gone from ruling the Russian people to being reviled by them in just a few years. After the Russian…

In Heart of a Dog, the Soviet government attacks more than just Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky’s oversized apartment and wealthy elite class: it also tries to eradicate the basic human values that make a life like Philip’s worth living. While solitary and occasionally standoffish, Philip still believes in treating everyone—even the intolerable, mischievous Sharikov—with dignity, decency, and respect. He’s also staunchly committed to nonviolence. The relationships that hold his life together are based…