5 Lessons on Human Nature from Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog

By Moisej Nappelbaum – , Public Domain

Human nature, huh? Don’t even get me started. It’s a bunch of grand ideas dressed up in fancy language, a mask covering a rotting face.

Bulgakov knew it. He didn’t sit around trying to dress things up all nice and neat.

In Heart of a Dog, he takes a dog, pumps him full of human organs, and what do you get? A mess. A grotesque mess of greed, stupidity, and the kind of ego only humans can manage.

You think you’re better than an animal? You think you’re above it all? Let me tell you something: no one is.

Author Bio

Mikhail Bulgakov, born in 1891, the guy was an artist caught in the throat of Soviet Russia, a place that was busy choking the life out of creativity.

A doctor, a writer, and an all-around rebel, he spent his life on the wrong side of the Soviet regime, and the regime didn’t like it.

Banned, censored, and spit on—Bulgakov was the kind of guy who made the government nervous.

He didn’t just write for the hell of it—he had something to say. His best-known work is The Master and Margarita, a surreal masterpiece, but Heart of a Dog? That’s the one that’ll get under your skin.

It’s the kind of book that makes you question what it means to be human, if we can even call it that.

Book Plot and Historical Context

Set in the early days of the Soviet Union, when Russia was teetering on the edge of something “better” and ending up with something worse, Heart of a Dog follows Professor Preobrazhensky, a pompous, self-important surgeon.

He’s got an idea—one of those big, “I’m going to change the world” ideas. What does he do? He takes a stray dog, Sharik, and gives him a little “upgrade”—implanting human organs.

The goal? To make a better man out of a dog. To elevate him. To transform him into something that, in Preobrazhensky’s mind, will be greater than what he was.

But guess what? Sharik doesn’t turn into a virtuous, enlightened human being. Instead, he becomes Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov—a hideous, ignorant, and increasingly dangerous man.

He’s a product of both Preobrazhensky’s meddling and the failings of the Soviet system.

What starts as an experiment in “improvement” quickly turns into a grotesque parody of man’s failings.

Here are 5 key lesson from the book:

Lesson 1: Power Doesn’t Elevate You. It Destroys You.

So, Preobrazhensky thinks he’s doing a noble thing.

He’s giving a dog a shot at a better life, right? Well, there’s one problem: human nature.

You can throw a pituitary gland into a dog, give him a few human organs, and slap a pair of pants on him, but guess what?

You haven’t changed anything. Sharikov may look human, but he’s a mess. The moment he gets a taste of power, the moment he steps into that human suit, he goes off the rails.

He starts spouting ideals about socialism, revolution, but what he really craves is control.

Power doesn’t elevate Sharikov—it turns him into a monster. He goes from a simple, albeit clueless, dog to a power-hungry brute with no moral compass.

Power only makes the cracks in our character bigger. And that’s the thing about humanity—you give us power, and we show our true colors. It doesn’t make us better; it makes us worse.

Table 1: The Transformation of Sharikov – Power Corrupts, Big Time

TraitSharik (the Dog)Sharikov (the Man)
BehaviorLoyal, humbleArrogant, rude, power-hungry
IntelligenceBasic instinctsPompous, thinks he’s smarter than everyone else
Moral CompassInnocent, unawareCorrupt, selfish, manipulative
View on AuthoritySubmissive, obedientContemptuous, dominant
Social StatusStray dogDeluded “man of the people”

Lesson 2: The Skin Doesn’t Make the Man. It’s the Inside That Counts.

Now, if you thought giving Sharik human organs would magically transform him into a better being, you’d be wrong.

What Preobrazhensky doesn’t realize is that human nature isn’t something you can just fix with a scalpel.

And that’s the problem with all these so-called experiments to “improve” humanity.

You can change the outside, put on a suit, call yourself a “new man,” but underneath, you’re still just the same beast.

Lesson 3: Playing God Never Ends Well.

Preobrazhensky’s arrogance is palpable. He thinks he can improve on nature, rewrite the rules of life itself.

He wants to be the creator, the one who gets to decide who’s worthy of humanity. So, he takes a dog and turns him into something else—a twisted version of man.

But what he doesn’t understand is that when you play God, you end up creating a monster.

Sharikov isn’t a man—he’s a parody. He’s the worst of human nature given free rein.

Preobrazhensky’s meddling leads to nothing but destruction. You can’t play God without consequences.

You can’t alter nature without unleashing chaos. Heart of a Dog doesn’t just critique the Soviet system—it critiques the whole idea that we can control or “improve” life. We can’t. We’re too damn flawed for that.

Lesson 4: Humanity is Hypocrisy in Action.

What makes Sharikov’s transformation so perfect, and so disgusting, is how it mirrors humanity’s contradictions.

The dog-turned-man is full of lofty ideals—he talks about socialism and equality—but the moment he gets a taste of power, he becomes just like every other corrupt, selfish human being.

He’s a hypocrite, preaching one thing while doing the exact opposite.

This is the core of humanity. We claim to want peace, but we build weapons.

We say we want equality, but we step on anyone who isn’t “one of us.”

We say we value honesty, but we lie every damn day. Sharikov is the embodiment of that hypocrisy. And deep down, you know you’re just like him. We all are.

Table 2: Sharikov’s Hypocrisy—Words vs. Actions

Words and IdealsActions
Preaches about equalityExploits everyone around him
Talks about the collective goodSeeks only personal benefit
Claims to be cultured and educatedActs like a vulgar brute
Advocates for fairnessBeats down anyone who stands in his way

Lesson 5: The Absurdity of Trying to Change Human Nature

In the end, Bulgakov lays it bare: you can’t fix what’s broken inside.

Sharikov’s transformation into a man isn’t just physical—it’s psychological, and it’s ugly.

Bulgakov shows us that all the grand plans to “improve” humanity are doomed from the start.

Sharikov, for all his newfound humanity, is still a mess of instincts, greed, and ignorance. It doesn’t matter how many revolutions we go through, how many systems we try to build—people are still going to be people.

We’re still going to be driven by our base desires. You can change the outside, but inside, the rot is there, always lurking. There’s no escaping it.

Conclusion

Here’s the cold, hard truth: we’re all Sharikov. We like to think we’re above the muck, that we’re different, that we’ve evolved.

But look closer. When you strip away the pretense, the ideals, and the shiny exterior, what do you get?

A creature just like any other.

You’re a dog with a better suit. Power doesn’t fix you. Revolution doesn’t fix you. You’re stuck with who you are.

That’s the most honest thing you’ll ever learn.

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