The ideologies of pure communism called for a new man and woman that would be developed with certain "dominant" qualities. These qualities are the basis for the idea of the "New Soviet Man" created by Lenin and Stalin in the socialist revolution. The Soviet man should be selfless, literate, and enthusiastic about spreading the socialist revolution and working towards the betterment of society. Stalin hoped to achieve this by destroying any class of people that strayed from his ideas and beliefs. He had no doubts that humans originated from apes and believed our consciousness in its most basic form was no more extensive than the consciousness of a beast. By destroying (or killing off) those classes, he would be able to build a classless society with complete equality. There would be no private property, ethnicities, or anything to differentiate one citizen from another. Bulgakov expresses his criticism of these ideas in his novel "The Heart of a Dog." He shows how the loss of private property is unreasonable for a functioning society and how the "New Soviet Man" is an unattainable dream. .
Lenin introduced the idea of communal apartments almost immediately after the Russian Revolution. The State would give a small allotment of space to each family: about five square meters per person. However, the government still owned the space. This was one of the first steps towards the creation of the Soviet man as it was supposed to unite different groups within one space. Communizing apartments was actually a way to adjust to the increased urban population density due to the rapid, intensive industrialization of the USSR. In "The Heart of a Dog," the management committee is working on "increasing the occupancy" of Professor Philipovich's apartment complex. Philipovich becomes rather angry at the thought of losing any of his space stating, "I live and work in seven rooms, and I could do with eight" (Bulgakov 9).