This article analyses the role of motifs of memory and oblivion in the ending of The Master and Margarita in comparison with, firstly, Ivan Karamazov's idea of 'returning the entry ticket to paradise' and Alyosha's answer about resurrection in the context of similar topics in ancient and medieval literature. According to the author of the article, the novels of Bulgakov and Dostoevsky place antiquity and the present time in a particular dialogue and conflict. It is mostly noticeable in

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... s novel, where the storyline of Jesus and his meetings with Pontius Pilate creates a genuine aesthetic and philosophical tension between the symbolic ancient and medieval thought and the positivist and post-positivist thought of today. Another connection is the striking combination of the romantic idyll with oblivion as the only way to happiness in Bulgakov's novel. If we juxtapose this