The Moscow Literary Society - "There Were Doings at Griboedov's" - Ch. 5 from "Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov

Chapter 5 

In chapter five Homeless shows up again after his quasi-demented search for the Professor and his companions across the city. This time he is sure that they are hiding out at the Moscow Literary Society house named after the Russian writer Griboedov. Griboedov's house is something of a country club style venue. Those who are a part of the society have a special card and can enter the house to enjoy fine meals, music, dancing, group meetings, to plan literary trips, etc. There is a group there waiting for Berlioz to show up as he is the editor, not knowing that he is dead. Eventually they give up and go down to the restaurant to enjoy a meal. Suddenly the new breaks that Berlioz has been killed. At first there is shock and panic, but soon people go back to what they were doing and who is going to take Berlioz' place. That's when Homeless shows up in a stupor calling out and demanding that the Professor come out of hiding and that they call the police and detain him. When people confront Homeless to try to talk sense into him, he hits a man in the head and an all out brawl starts. Eventually he is subdued and taken to a mental hospital. 

There Were Doings at Griboedov's 

Chapter five takes the reader to one of the headquarters of the Massolit Society, a house named after the Russian writer Alexander Griboedov. Berlioz had been the head of the society in Moscow. 1 The house was what one might think of as a country club. There were groups and rooms dedicated to all sorts of clubs, from sports to writers' vacations. 2 "Any visitor finding himself in Griboedov's, unless of course he was a total dim-wit, would realize at once what a good life those lucky fellows, the Massolit members, were having, and black envy would immediately start gnawing at him. And he would immediately address bitter reproaches to heaven for not having endowed him at birth with literary talent, lacking which there was naturally no dreaming of owning a Massolit membership card, brown, smelling of costly leather, with a wide gold boarder - a card known to all Moscow." 3 Likewise there was a fancy restaurant in the bottom floor which served delicious food at a low cost for its members. 4 

The night of Berlioz' death there was a group at of members meeting and waiting for him to arrive so that they could start their gathering. They are questioning why he isn't showing up. 5 Eventually at midnight they give up and head down to the restaurant for some food and dancing. 6 As everyone is enjoying themselves and the live music, an interruption happens. The news about Berlioz's death reaches the people and causes a ruckus in the restaurant. 7 

On a side note, I have no idea what this paragraph means in the context of the story, so I will paste it here for later reflection. "And at midnight there came an apparition in hell. A handsome dark-eyed man with a dagger-like beard, in a tailcoat, stepped on to the veranda and cast a regal glance over his domain. They used to say, the mystics used to say, that there was a time when the handsome man wore not a tailcoat but a wide leather belt with pistol butts sticking from it, and his raven hair tied with scarlet silk, and under his command a brig sailed the Caribbean under a black death flag with a skull and crossbones. But no, no! The seductive mystics are lying, there are no Caribbean Seas in the world, no desperate freebooters sail them, no corvette chases after them, no cannon smoke drifts across the waves. There is nothing, and there was nothing! There is that sickly linden over there, there is the cast-iron fence, and the boulevard beyond it … And the ice is melting in the bowl, and at the next table you see someone’s bloodshot, bovine eyes, and you’re afraid, afraid … Oh, gods, my gods, poison, bring me poison! …” (Upon further reflection, Bulgakov seems to be parodying the door guard. Here he stands imagining himself as some great adventurer, while in reality this prestigious club is nothing of the sort. It's full of gluttons, drunks, social climbers, etc.)

The shock doesn't last very long, though, as only a few minutes later people are trying to claim his old office and thinking of redecorating. Soon the night life returns back to normal. 8 At Four o'clock in the morning Homeless shows up to the Massolit house. He is still in his underwear, all scratched up, carrying around this wedding candle and icon, as he stumbles into the house. "It would even be difficult to plumb the depths of the silence that reigned on the veranda." Homeless holds up the candles and proclaims that "he has appeared!" and that "they must catch him!". Everyone is confused as Homeless goes around looking for the Professor. 9 He tells them of this foreign professor who killed Berlioz and then got away with his companions. He alerts them to call the police to go after him ... but cannot remember his real name. The people in the house think that Homeless is ill and needs some mental help. 10 Out of anger that people aren't listening to him, Homeless hits a man in the head. From there, a whole crowd of people jumps on him to subdue him. 11 In the end Homeless is taken into custody by the police and brought to a mental hospital. 12 

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1 - Bulgakov, Mikhail. The Master and Margarita. (New York. Penguin Books, 2016). Pg. 52.

2 - 53

3 - 53, 54

4 - 54

5 - 55

6 - 57

7 - 58

8 - 59 

9 - 60

10 - 61

11 - 62

12 - 63