Tema Đavolijade su slike iz svakodnevnog života, u kojima je Bulgakov, poput Gogolja, video ono mistično vrelo života, pokušavao da dokuči ono nelogično, nerazumno u društvenom biću. U vrtlozima birokratije, glavni junak Korotkov, donekle modernizovani gogoljevski„mali čovek", boreći se za svoje mesto pod suncem, gotovo bezumno hita u potrazi za tajanstvenim rukovodiocem Gaćanom, koji se njemu ispred nosa razdvaja, čas se pojavljujući, čas nestajući i u toj vrtoglavoj, gotovo filmskoj poteri, našavši se u sukobu s nesavladivom đavolskom silom, gubi razum.
Morfijum dočarava zavisnost Mihaila Bulgakova od morfijuma, pošto se inficirao prilikom operacije traheotomije, koju je opisao u priči „Čelično grlo", marta 1917. godine, ubrzo po odlasku u Moskvu i Kijev, odmah iza februarske revolucije. Bulgakov je veoma precizno opisao dejstvo morfijuma na organizam. Naravno, u priči je narator doktor Poljakov, čiji dnevnik, posle njegovog samoubistva, čita doktor Bomgard...
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (Russian: Михаил Булгаков) was a Russian writer, medical doctor, and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.
He also wrote the novel The White Guard and the plays Ivan Vasilievich, Flight (also called The Run), and The Days of the Turbins. He wrote mostly about the horrors of the Russian Civil War and about the fate of Russian intellectuals and officers of the Tsarist Army caught up in revolution and Civil War.
Some of his works (Flight, all his works between the years 1922 and 1926, and others) were banned by the Soviet government, and personally by Joseph Stalin, after it was decided by them that they "glorified emigration and White generals". On the other hand, Stalin loved The Days of the Turbins (also called The Turbin Brothers) very much and reportedly saw it at least 15 times.