The Heart of a Dog

by Mikhail Bulgakov

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What are a few themes in Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog?

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The themes in Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog include the hubris of science, as shown through the reckless experimentation by Philip Philipovich, which satirizes Soviet society. The novel critiques social and biological determinism, highlighting how Sharik's transformation into a human reflects the negative aspects of Soviet officials. It also explores empathy, suggesting that ignoring human compassion leads to societal failure, and criticizes the destructive nature of communism and Bolshevism.

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Bulgakov uses science as a way to satirize Soviet society. I think the main question the story poses is about the relationship of ideology to basic human emotions. The following paragraphs detail the themes:

The hubris of science: Philip Philipovich performs his operation on the dog purely out of detached intellectual curiousity. Even though he knows that the dog likely will not survive, his experiment is more important than the dog's life.

People as machines: Philip Philipovich's practice, in which he routinely replaces human organs with animal ones, suggests that humans can be "perfected" by his surgery. This can be understood either as an assertion of his personal genius (he alone is capable of performing these operations, and so is exceptional) or as an attitude of the socialist society in which he lives (which devalues individuality for the greater good).

Social (or biological) determinism: Sharik, once he is transformed into...

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a human, becomes a kind of caricature of the small-minded, petty party officials who preside over Soviet life. Sharik, who was an admirable dog, becomes a not-so-admirable human.

Empathy: The story argues (at least in part) that any social experiment that discounts or precludes the need for people to empathize and care for one another is doomed to failure. 

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What is a theme in Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov?

The Heart of a Dog is a story that was written by Mikhail Bulgakov. Near the beginning, the setting of the novel is in Moscow in the 1920s. The story is about an injured, stray dog who is adopted by a successful doctor named Filip Filippovich. He gives the dog the name of Sharik. He operates on the dog, giving it human organs, including testicles and a pituitary gland. He also feeds and cares for the dog. The story personifies the dog to make the dog seem like a human being. The dog has personal qualities and talks to people, so the story is quite bizarre and imaginative.

The dog eventually acts like a communist. Thus the doctor transforms Sharik back into a dog because Filip is resistant to the communism that is rampant throughout Russia, and he cannot deal with the dog's support for it. The story's events are an attack on the communism and Bolshevism of that period of time in Russia. The story attempts to show that communism and Bolshevism turns good people into bad actors.

In doing so, the novel displays the effects of uncontrolled and reckless scientific experimentation. After the operation on Sharik, who later becomes a primitive human in the story, Filip realizes that he has transformed the dog into a vile human who supports the worst features of the Bolshevik Revolution: excesses, violence, and narcissism. Thus the author writes in a conservative fashion to underscore his condemnation of the inequalities and injustices under the Communist Party.

He also writes to criticize the destruction of morally good values in Russia, which he views as the ability to persevere and kindness toward other people. These themes of horrible scientific experimentation, anti-communism, and resistance to the Revolution are plainly apparent throughout the novel.

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