The Devils (The Possessed)

Virginsky appeals to the rest of the group, suggesting that Marie’s return means that Shatov will never inform, but finds no one available to listen to him. He arrives early at the agreed meeting place and is soon joined by the others while they wait for Erkel and Shatov. They go over their plan to kill Shatov. Virginsky reiterates his theory, only for Peter to argue him down as “some fool” (675) who would panic at the last moment. Shigalyov also has doubts, and he walks away.

At that moment, Erkel and Shatov arrive. Liputin meets them, distracting Shatov long enough for the others to grab hold of him. Peter shoots Shatov in the head and then searches Shatov’s pockets. They tie stones to Shatov’s body and plan to throw it in a pond, only for Virginsky to panic. Lyamshin grabs Virginsky and screams. He does not stop screaming until Erkel shoves a handkerchief into his mouth. As they carry the body to the pond, Virginsky continues to complain that “it’s not right at all” (680). They throw the body in the water, it sinks, and Peter tells the men to go their separate ways. He plans to go to the country and advises the others to “spend the day at home” (681). As Peter walks home, Liputin catches up to him. He is worried that Lyamshin will inform. He desperately wants to know whether there are other groups in Peter’s organization. Peter’s answer convinces Liputin that there are no other groups. As he leaves, Peter assures himself that “no one will inform” (683).

Peter goes home and packs his bag. Before catching a train, he visits Kirillov, who is “glad to see him” (684). Kirillov has thought about the situation and plans to continue with the plan. He will confess to any crime and then die by suicide. However, he is shocked that Peter murdered Shatov. Kirillov grabs his gun and points it at Peter, who is still armed with his own revolver. As they talk, Peter claims that he has “foreseen everything” (687). Kirillov loathes Peter but he cannot overcome his own desire to die by suicide and “become God” (689), as he believes it is “the greatest degree of self-will […] to take [his] own life” (692).

Peter is worried that Kirillov may not continue with the plan, but he probes the man’s intellectualism. Swept up in a fervor, Kirillov grabs a pen and writes his confession. He confesses to everything Peter needs, including Shatov’s murder, though Peter tells him to keep the confession “as obscure as possible” (695) so the authorities can fill in the blanks and believe whatever story suits them. Kirillov signs the confession and takes the gun into another room. Peter reads the confession, and, after a harrowing flurry of paranoia, he hears a gunshot. Peter checks the dead body and then slips out through “Fedka’s secret passage” (701).

Peter and Erkel wait for a train at the station. Erkel admits that he wishes Peter was not going to Saint Petersburg. Peter promises to “come straight back” (703) and assures him that their network is very extensive. Their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of one of Yulia’s relations. They discuss Yulia’s worried state and the poor health of her husband. The man invites Peter to join him in the first-class carriage to play cards. When Peter waves goodbye, this is the last time Erkel will ever see him. Something gnaws at Erkel’s sense of wellbeing.

Stepan sets out on his “insane undertaking” (706). He walks along the highway. As he walks, he thinks about the strange recent events in his life and frets about Fedka. A cart approaches with a “peasant woman” (709) onboard. Stepan is intrigued by the cart; the “inquisitive woman” (710) sparks up a conversation and offers him a ride. He claims to be a teacher but cannot give exact details of his plans. They take him to a village, where he is shown to a warm house and given pancakes. He shares vodka with the woman he met on the road.

A different woman tries to sell him a Gospel as the local people discuss the arson attack in the town. He is recognized by one of Varvara’s former servants, a man named Anisim Ivanov. Stepan struggles to explain his actions to Anisim, who in turn explains his true status to the villagers. After learning that the Gospel seller’s name is Sofya Matveevna Ulitina, Stepan overhears the peasants talking about him. They talk about how he can get to Spasov, ignoring his pleas to stay in the village. Stepan makes plans with Sofya, who is also traveling to Spasov. Anisim wishes him a “good journey” (720).

Stepan and Sofya travel to Spasov. He offers to help her sell Gospels. As they travel together, he begins to become obsessed with her. At the same time, he develops a terrible fever. They stop in an inn. Feeling feverish, he tells Sofya an elaborate and fictionalized version of his life’s story. He desperately pleads with her not to leave him. Over the course of the next two days, she spends two terrible days caring for the sickly Stepan. He asks her to “read him the Gospel” (729). Sofya reads Bible stories while he praises her reading style. She continues to read to him in his fever as the landlords pester her for money and to see Stepan’s paperwork. Eventually, Stepan becomes delirious and loses consciousness. Three days later, he begins to improve. He hears a carriage arrive outside.

The carriage contains “Varvara Petrovna herself” (733), who has been alerted to Stepan’s presence by Anisim. Varvara dismisses Sofya and confronts Stepan. He claims to have found “real Russian life” (734). Varvara sends Dasha to fetch a doctor as she hisses criticisms at the “irredeemably shallow” (736) Stepan. When Stepan sleeps, Sofya speaks to Varvara about Stepan’s fevered ramblings. He talked, she explains, about his love for a “noble lady” (738). Varvara buys all Sofya’s gospels and sends her away again. The doctor says that Stepan’s condition is “extremely dubious” (739). Varvara sends for a priest. Stepan speaks about God, regret, and religion. He dies three days later, passing away in his sleep “like a candle that burns down” (742). Varvara arranges the funeral and takes Sofya home with her to settle at Skvoreshniki, insisting to her new acquaintance that she has “no son” (743).

Marie wakes up. She is still exhausted but worries about Shatov’s absence. Arina hears what happened from Virginsky and tries to cover up her husband’s involvement in the crime. By the time she visits her patient, Marie, she discovers that Marie has gone to ask Kirillov about Shatov’s whereabouts. Seeing Kirillov’s body, she grabbed her baby and ran out into the street in a panic. Both Marie and her baby die over the coming days.

An uproar arises in town regarding the apparent “secret society of murderers, arsonists, revolutionaries, and rebels” (746). Shatov’s body is found quicker than Peter expected; the police quickly realize that Kirillov could not have acted alone. Lyamshin cannot maintain his silence. He tries to die by suicide and then runs to the authorities, telling them “absolutely everything” (748). He tells them that Peter’s society was aiming to collapse society with an “enormous” (749) network of likeminded groups across the country.

The only person Lyamshin does not implicate is Stavrogin, who he says did not play “any role in the secret society” (749). Virginsky is arrested and admits everything immediately. Erkel is arrested but admits to nothing, though his youth garners him some sympathy. Liputin is arrested in Saint Petersburg; he did not flee the country with his false passport because he was searching for Peter and Stavrogin. The narrator insists that the “business is not yet over” (752). Already, people are hailing Peter as a genius if not a moral man.

Varvara returns home. Dasha reads a letter from Stavrogin, inviting her to escape with him. He confesses to everything and praises her. He claims that in Russia he was “incapable of finding anything [he] could hate” (753). Still, he struggles with his desire to do good and evil in equal measure. He feels an urge to die by suicide but he is afraid that doing so will make him seem too magnanimous. Dasha shows the letter to Varvara, who wants to join Dasha and flee with her son. However, Stavrogin seems to have already left the address he gave to Dasha. Varvara and Dasha explore the empty apartment and find Stavrogin in the loft. Stavrogin is “hanging behind the door” (756). He leaves a note, blaming only himself. The premeditated nature of the suicide means that the coroners rule out any “possibility of insanity” (756).