Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

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In 1925, Mikhail Bulgakov created the novella The Heart of a Dog—a reflection of an era gripped by the idea of human perfectibility through the lens of scientific progress. The narrative centers on Professor Preobrazhensky, a world-renowned scientific luminary obsessed with solving the mystery of eternal youth. In his attempts to approach the solution, he makes an unexpected discovery, allowing him to transform animals into humans through surgical intervention. However, the experiment, in which a dog is transplanted with a human pituitary gland, leads to completely unpredictable consequences.

To penetrate the essence of the work and learn the key plot details, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the concise, chapter-by-chapter summary of The Heart of a Dog, presented online on the pages of our website.

Setting and Time

Where and when do the events unfold?

The novella’s action takes place in Moscow in 1924.

Main Characters

Who are the main characters of this story?

• Sharick – A homeless dog, endowed with unusual intelligence and observation. Sharick is a true philosopher of the animal world, who has learned the harsh truth of life on the streets and even taught himself to read simple signs.
• Poligraph Poligraphovich Sharikov – The result of Professor Preobrazhensky’s daring experiment, the former dog Sharick, who received a human pituitary gland from Klim Chugunkin, a drunken brawler. The transformation from a good-natured dog into an uneducated and aggressive proletarian was swift.
• Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky – A luminary of medicine, a representative of the fading era of the intelligentsia. He observes the changes in society with distrust and apprehension, seeing the image of the proletarian, similar to Sharikov, as a threat to culture and knowledge.
• Ivan Arnoldovich Bormenthal – The devoted student and assistant of Preobrazhensky, who shares his mentor’s views. He participates enthusiastically in the experiments but soon faces unforeseen consequences.
• Shvonder – The chairman of the house committee, a staunch supporter of the new order. He sees Sharikov as an example of the «liberated proletariat» and strives to instill communist ideals in him, which provokes the professor’s indignation.

Other Characters

• Zina – A young and impressionable girl, serving as both a maid and an assistant in Professor Preobrazhensky’s house.
• Darya Petrovna – A middle-aged woman in charge of the kitchen in Preobrazhensky’s apartment.
• The Typist – Sharikov’s former sweetheart, who worked with him.

Chapter One

Frost gripped the streets of Moscow. In one of the yards, hiding from the cold, lay the homeless dog Sharick. Agonizing pain pierced his scalded side. In his bitter reflections, he describes the hardships of a dog’s life in the big city with irony and philosophical despair, criticizing the morals of the common folk. He is particularly critical of the janitors and doormen—in his opinion, the most vile representatives of the human race.

Pain pierced his tortured side, forcing the poor dog to curl up against the icy wall. He was suffocating, constrained by hopelessness. “I’ll stay here… to die…,” flashed in the dog’s consciousness. Despair descended with a leaden weight, crushing his heart with unbearable anguish. Loneliness and fear burned with icy fire. Tears rolled one after another from his hazy eyes, like tiny beads, leaving short salty trails on his muzzle.

Suddenly, the figure of a gentleman in a good fur coat appeared before his clouded gaze. A tempting pink Krakow sausage glowed in his hand. Wagging his tail subserviently, the dog padded after him, lost in conjecture: who could this benefactor be, if even the formidable doorman from the rich house, the scourge of all strays, spoke to him with such respect?

The mysterious stranger leaned down to the four-legged friend, his golden eyes sparkled, and he took a long, white package from his right pocket. Without removing his brown gloves, he unwrapped the paper, which the wind immediately snatched up, and broke off a piece of the sausage, known as «special Krakow sausage.» This piece was intended for the dog.

During a conversation with the doorman, the gentleman in the fur coat learns that «the third apartment has been settled with housing comrades,» and this news causes him horror, although the impending «compaction» will not affect his personal living space.

Chapter Two

Sharick, having entered the luxurious, warm apartment, became alarmed and decided to cause a scene, but he was chloroformed and cured. After this, the dog, freed from his ailments, curiously observes the reception of Professor Preobrazhensky’s patients. Among them is an elderly don Juan and a rich lady in love with a young swindler. They are all united by one desire—rejuvenation. Preobrazhensky is ready to grant their requests, but for an appropriate fee. In the evening, members of the house committee, led by Shvonder, come to the professor and demand that Preobrazhensky, in the interest of «compaction,» give up two of his seven rooms. The professor calls one of his influential patients to complain about the arbitrariness and suggests that, if this is the case, he should appeal to Shvonder, while he himself will leave for Sochi. As they leave, the members of the house committee accuse Preobrazhensky of hating the proletariat.

Chapter Three

«… at the general meeting your question was thoroughly studied, and, summing up, one can say that you have, forgive my directness, significantly overreached with the living space. Seven rooms for exclusive use—that is, you know, a bit much. – Excuse me, – Filipp Filippovich objected, – I not only live in these seven rooms, but I also work. And, I dare say, the eighth room is by no means for my amusement, but for a library. A dead silence fell, the four interlocutors were as silent as the grave.»

During a meal, Preobrazhensky launches into a discussion about the subtleties of gastronomic culture and its influence on the proletariat. He seriously advises against reading Soviet press before eating, to avoid unpleasant consequences for digestion. The professor is sincerely puzzled and outraged by the paradox: how can one simultaneously advocate for the rights of the workers of the whole world and shamelessly appropriate someone else’s galoshes? Hearing the revolutionary hymns emanating from behind the wall, performed by the tenants’ meeting, he comes to the following conclusion: «Imagine, if instead of standing at the operating table every evening, I start organizing choral concerts in my apartment—chaos will inevitably reign. If, excuse my French, I start defecating past the toilet bowl, and Zina and Darya Petrovna follow my example, the lavatory will become completely unsanitary. Thus, the root of evil is not in the closets, but in the heads. And when these «songbirds» loudly proclaim «beat the destruction!», I cannot help but laugh. I swear, it makes me laugh! After all, that’s equivalent to urging one to hit oneself on the back of the head!»

Sharick’s fate remains under a veil of secrecy for now, but Bormenthal, securing the promise of pathologists to immediately report the appearance of «needed material,» continues to closely observe the dog.

Sharick is purchased a luxurious collar, indulged with exquisite food, and the wound on his side finally heals. The dog, of course, sometimes misbehaves, but when the indignant Zina threatens to punish him, the professor categorically forbids it: «No physical force! A person and an animal should be influenced exclusively by suggestion.»

The next day, a wide, shining collar was put on the four-legged pet. Zina took the dog on a leash and went for a walk on Obukhov Lane. The dog walked like a criminal, head lowered in shame, but upon reaching Prechistenka and approaching the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, he realized the full significance of this collar in his life. Envy was clearly visible on the muzzles of all the dogs they met, and some long-legged mongrel with a docked tail, met in a deserted lane, barked at him as «master’s scum» and «servant.»

Just as Sharick began to get used to his new dwelling, a commotion began after a phone call: the professor demanded dinner earlier than usual. Sharick, deprived of food, was locked in the bathroom, after which he was led to the study and chloroformed.

Chapter Four

Preobrazhensky and Bormenthal performed an operation on Sharick. They transplanted testicles and a pituitary gland, taken from a fresh human corpse. According to the scientists’ plan, this was supposed to open new horizons in their study of the mechanism of rejuvenation.

The professor sadly assumes that the dog is unlikely to survive such an operation, as there have already been victims of similar experiments before him.

Chapter Five

«In the morning the dog barked happily, repeating the word «abyr.» At 3 o’clock in the afternoon he made the maid Zina laugh until she fainted. In the evening, he pronounced «abyr-valg» 8 times, and the professor deciphered that it means «Glavryba [Chief Fish]»…»

Doctor Bormenthal’s notes, like a chronicle of an incredible metamorphosis, captured Sharick’s transformation. The operated dog, snatched from the clutches of death, began to change with frightening speed. Fur left his body in clumps, his skull seemed to be reshaped by an invisible sculptor, his bark acquired a frightening resemblance to a human voice, and his bones grew at an incredible rate. Scraps of words burst from his mouth, as if he were trying to assemble a mosaic of letters. It turned out that the stray life had taught him to read from signs, although he assimilated some words backwards. The young doctor, seized by the enthusiasm of a pioneer, made a bold conclusion: the pituitary gland transplant not only grants a second youth but is also capable of completely humanizing an animal. In a burst of admiration, he calls his teacher a genius. But the professor himself, with a dark shadow on his face, delves into the study of the medical history of the man whose pituitary gland became the key to this frightening transformation.

Chapter Six

The medical workers attempt to educate their creation, instilling the necessary skills and providing schooling. Sharikov’s manner of dressing, speech, and behavior irritate the intellectual Preobrazhensky. Posters hang in the apartment, prohibiting swearing, spitting, throwing cigarette butts, and chewing sunflower seeds. Sharikov himself has a passively aggressive attitude towards education: «They grabbed an animal, cut open its head with a knife, and now they are squeamish.» After interacting with the house committee, the former dog confidently uses bureaucratic terms and demands that an identity card be issued to him. He chooses the name «Poligraph Poligraphovich» and adopts the «hereditary» surname – Sharikov.

The professor expresses a desire to buy any room in the house and evict Poligraph Poligraphovich there, but Shvonder maliciously refuses him, remembering their ideological conflict. Soon, a communal catastrophe occurs in the professor’s apartment: Sharikov chased a cat and caused a flood in the bathroom.

– Allow me to introduce myself, – he finally spoke up, – Filipp Filippovich. I have now found a position. It is stated in the papers: «The bearer of this, Comrade Poligraph Poligraphovich Sharikov, is indeed appointed to the position of head of the sub-department for cleaning the capital’s streets from stray animals (mainly feline) at the MCH [Moscow Communal Housing].»

Chapter Seven

At the dinner table, Sharikov downed vodka with such ease, as if he had been doing it all his life. The professor, watching this act, merely sighed meaningfully: «What can one expect from him, alas, Klim…» In the evening, the newly minted Poligraph Poligraphovich decided to spend time at the circus. He rejected Preobrazhensky’s offer to visit the theater with indignation, calling the activity «counter-revolutionary stunts.» In the hope of at least somehow refining his creation’s leisure, the professor wanted to give Sharikov at least Robinson Crusoe to read, but he was already absorbed in the correspondence of Engels with Kautsky—a «gift» from Shvonder. True, from the whole intricate web of thoughts of the two pillars of Marxism, Sharikov grasped only the simple slogan: «take everything and divide it.» Hearing this, the professor did not lose his composure and offered him to «divide» the losses from the reception canceled due to the flood—to pay 130 rubles «for the tap and for the cat.» And the book, sowing confusion in Poligraph Poligraphovich’s unformed consciousness, the professor ordered Zina to burn.

Sending Sharikov to the circus under Bormenthal’s supervision, Preobrazhensky stared thoughtfully for a long time at Sharick the dog’s preserved pituitary gland. «I think I’ve made a decision,» he finally said, as if addressing the silent witness to his scientific endeavors.

Chapter Eight

A new scandal erupts in the apartment on Prechistenka. Sharikov, waving documents like a battle banner, declares his rights to the professor’s living space. The outraged Preobrazhensky is ready for extreme measures: he threatens to shoot Shvonder and promises Poligraph a starvation death in case of disobedience. The threats had an effect, and Sharikov falls silent for a while, but not for long. Soon he is caught stealing two gold ten-ruble coins from the professor’s study, trying to blame the innocent Zina for it. Drunk with impunity, Poligraph brings a company of drinking companions into the house, after whose departure valuable items disappear from Preobrazhensky’s: a malachite ashtray, a beaver hat, and his favorite cane.

Over a glass of cognac, Bormenthal, full of sympathy, confesses his boundless respect to Preobrazhensky and proposes a radical solution: to personally feed Sharikov arsenic. The professor is strictly against it, understanding that he, a world-renowned scientist, would avoid punishment for murder, but the young Bormenthal would not. He bitterly admits his scientific mistake: «I spent five years, digging out appendages from brains… And for what? To ultimately turn the most amiable dog into such a scoundrel that my hair stands on end. […] Two convictions for Chugunkin, alcoholism, ‘take everything and divide it,’ my hat and two ten-ruble coins are gone, this Sharikov is a boor and a swine… In short, the pituitary gland—that is the key to the mystery of personality, it determines fate! And there’s no escaping it!» After all, Sharikov received the pituitary gland from Klim Chugunkin, a recidivist criminal, alcoholic, and brawler, who spent his whole life in taverns, playing the balalaika, and died in a drunken brawl. The doctors imagine with horror what Sharikov could turn into under the influence of Shvonder, having inherited such a terrible «breed.»

On a cold night, Darya Petrovna decisively kicks the drunken Poligraph out of the kitchen. Bormenthal promises to create a scene with him in the morning, but Sharikov suddenly disappears and, upon returning, announces that he has taken a new position—head of the department for cleaning Moscow from homeless animals.

A couple of days later, a young woman, slender and with lined eyes, dressed in cream stockings, arrives at the apartment. She looks confused, finding herself in the luxurious dwelling. Following Sharikov, she bumps into the professor in the hallway. The latter, puzzled, asks, squinting: «May I inquire?» To which Sharikov, extremely dissatisfied, gloomily explains: «This is our typist, who will live with me. Bormenthal must be evicted from the reception room, he has his own apartment.»

The young typist, introduced by Sharikov as his future wife, visited the professor’s house. However, the guest was quickly enlightened about Poligraph’s true nature: he turned out to be no brave Red Army commander, and his «wound» had nothing to do with heroic battles. The exposed Sharikov, finding nothing better, began to threaten the girl with dismissal. Bormenthal, unable to tolerate such rudeness, took the typist under his protection, promising at the same time to shoot the presumptuous Sharikov.

Chapter Nine

A guest appeared in Preobrazhensky’s apartment—an imposing man in a military uniform, who was once a patient of the professor. From his words, Preobrazhensky learned with horror that Sharikov, harboring revenge, had written a denunciation against him and Bormenthal. In this «creation,» Poligraph accused the professor and his assistant of death threats, counter-revolutionary propaganda, illegal storage of weapons, and other imaginary transgressions.

After this, Sharikov is categorically offered to leave the apartment, but he first resists, then becomes even more insolent, and eventually even draws a pistol. The medics overpower him, disarm him, and chloroform him, after which they announce a ban on entry and exit from the apartment, and some activity begins in the examination room.

Chapter Ten (Epilogue)

The police arrive at the professor’s apartment, alerted by Shvonder. They have a search warrant, and, according to its results, they intend to arrest Preobrazhensky on charges of Sharikov’s murder.

However, Preobrazhensky is calm—he explains that his laboratory creature unexpectedly and inexplicably degenerated from a man back into a dog, and shows the police and the investigator a strange creation, in which the features of Poligraph Poligraphovich can still be discerned.

Professor Preobrazhensky, the famous scientist-experimenter, orders Doctor Bormenthal to present Sharick the dog to the investigator. Doctor Bormenthal reluctantly complies, and soon an unusual spectacle appears in the reception room: a dog, partially deprived of fur and with a crimson scar on its forehead, stands on its hind legs like a circus performer and sits in an armchair, smiling amiably.

Despite his strange external transformation, Sharick the dog continues to live and prosper in the professor’s apartment, still not understanding why this experimental operation was performed on him.

Conclusion

Thanks to the scientific experiment on him, Sharick gained an unusual appearance but retained his place of residence and well-being with the professor.

• Professor Preobrazhensky – performs the operation to return Sharikov to his original state, avoids arrest, keeping Sharick the dog with him.
• Doctor Bormenthal – remains the loyal assistant of Professor Preobrazhensky, continuing to assist him.
• Poligraph Poligraphovich Sharikov – returns to being a dog after the operation and continues to live in the professor’s apartment.
• Sharick the dog – remains living in the professor’s apartment.

Concluding Remarks

In his The Heart of a Dog, Bulgakov is not limited to just a philosophical warning about the consequences of interfering with the natural order. He masterfully highlights the vices of his time, branding ignorance, cruelty, power-lust, and foolishness. These unsightly traits are endowed to the newfound «masters of fate» who, possessing neither wisdom nor humanity, undertake to reshape the world to their own liking. It is no coincidence that the leitmotif of the work sounds the thought: «the destruction is not in the closets, but in the heads.»

A dry retelling of The Heart of a Dog by chapters cannot convey even a fraction of the work’s artistic richness. To truly appreciate its depth and poignancy, take the time to read the original. Afterward, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the brilliant 1988 film adaptation by Vladimir Bortko, which meticulously preserved the spirit and letter of Bulgakov’s masterpiece.