Notes

1. The first full and correct text was not published in the Soviet Union until 1973 (Proffer 530). Also see Johnson for publishing history. [text]

2. Proffer suggests that Master contains one truth which may be divined (537-8). While this position is supportable, it, nevertheless, suggests another absolute which would not lend credence to multiple interpretations of truth. [text]

3. Aravamudan discusses the numerical implications of the number 420 in India: "the scope of '420' extends to the more significant villany of politicians and businessmen" (7). He states that 420 represents a sort of Orwellian tyrany to those who experienced Indira Gandhi's political régime (8). [text]

4. Hereafter The Satanic Verses will be simply Verses and The Master and Margarita, Master. [text]

5. Jahilia translates to "ignorance." These sections represent pre-Islamic peoples of Arabia. [text]

6. To simplify, the sections of the novels that concern the genesis of the religions will be refered to as the "heterodox" settings, while those that address the twentieth-century action in Moscow, London, and Bombay will be labeled the "contemporary" settings. [text]

7. Bezdomny means "Homeless" in Russian. [text]

8. Bardolph suggests that nothing in Verses can betaken out of context. This quotation is spoken by the poet Baal, who eventually sells out his convictions for profit and lust. Keeping this in mind, the quotation, nevertheless, is germane in this context. [text]

9. The "me," an interjection by the unknown narrator, suggests that he is, possibly, Satan; for Eve, the archetypical woman, turned to Satan when she wanted more than what Eden could offer under the aegis of God. This, unfortunately, is too broad to cover here. [text]

10. It would be erroneous to assume that Gibreel speaks for Rushdie and the master speaks for Bulgakov, but the novels within the novels are written by the authors' protagonists which makes the true creator ambiguous at best. [text]

11. Muhammad is not considered divine by orthodox Moslems. He is strictly the prophet; yet this fact does not alter the subsequent conclusions. [text]

12. Perhaps Bulgakov suggests that the secretary's dictation becomes part of the later Jesus legend. Matthew is not present at Yeshua's interrogation, but the Pilate's secretary took fastidious notes. These notes may have later joined with Matthew's scribblings to become "gospel" after Yeshua's death. [text]

13. Apropos to this is Pasternak's observation in Doctor Zhivago that is applicable to the artist: "Individual human life became the life story of God, and its contents filled the vast expanses of the universe. . . . Adam tried to be like God and failed, but now God was made man so that Adam should be made God" (413). This is a heterodox statement that ends up contributing to Zhivago's estrangement from society, but leads to his greater understanding of his truth. [text]

14. Mahound, a name attributed to the false prophet Muhammad, by Western Christians, contains various connotations: the false prophet Muhammad; false god or idol; a monster or hideous creature; the devil; a heathen. Rushdie also uses the name as a weakness that is embraced and then used as a strength: "Here he is neither Mahomet nor Moehammered; has adopted, instead, the demon-tag the farangis hung around his neck. To turn insults into strengths, whigs, tories, Blacks all chose to wear with pride the names they were given in scorn; likewise, our mountain-climbing, prophet-motivated, solitary is to be the medieval baby-frightener, the Devil's synonym: Mahound." (Verses 93). "By using 'Mahound' for Muhammad," states Noor, "Rushdie has put to shame those who invented that disparaging name for the prophet" (6). See also Myers and Nazareth. [text]

15. Again the ambiguous "me" appears in the text. This time, however, the "me" is seemingly also being manipulated by some unseen force, perhaps God (cf. Section 5). [text]

16. Alfred Guillaume states that Muhammad made a temporary but small concession to heathenism in sura 53:19: "Have you considered Al-Lat and al-'Uzza and Manat the third other? . . . Verily they are the exalted maidens and their intercession is to be hoped for" (189). [text]

17. Compare this passage to one in Master's heterdox section, when Pilate asks Yeshua: "Do you happen to know . . . anyone called Dismas? Or Hestus? Or a third--Bar-Abba?" (28-9). [text]

18. "This episode, as well as the fact based on historical evidence that the Prophet, on his glorious return to Mecca on the 30th of January 630, condemned to death as traitors mainly intellectuals and writers" (Bader 72). Guillaume refutes Bader's history by stating that only four people were put to death: three were war criminals and the fourth was a singing girl who "had composed satirical verses against the prophet" (51). [text]

19. cf. Gillespie and Wright for excellent discussions of Faust and its parallel themes in Bulgakov. [text]

20. Aravamudan compares these theologicals to the likes of The Ten Commandments and The Bible; however, he states the theologicals go further in promoting "cult worship of film stars as demigods" (9). He continues by also comparing them to contemporary Indian politicians. [text]