Darkness at Noon

Darkness at Noon is a fictional novel written by Arthur Koestler that stands as a portrayal of the nightmare politics during the twentieth century. The setting stands in the tumultuous Soviet Union in the 1930’s. Rubashov, the main character, is imprisoned and psychologically tortured by the party to which he had dedicated his life. The novel is a brilliant source of history from a personal point of view. While Koestler’s novel and characters are purely fictitious, the historical circumstances that the novel is based upon are morbidly accurate.

Under the rule of Stalin, rapid industrialization occurred in the Soviet Union in the 1930’s. The government was soon enforcing strict discipline among all laborers. For instance, the workers had to carry a “workbook” that indicated any infractions of work discipline of which they had been guilty. Those who questioned the Communist process, wished to revise it, or whose work fell short of the assigned quotas could, and were, accused of political opposition. While the results of Stalin’s “five-year plan” were astounding, the social and human costs of the effort were just as remarkable. The rapid change within the party ultimately led to division and different poi

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Koestler makes it clear that Rubashov was not merely a victim of Stalin, or Stalin’s henchman, but of the system that Rubashov himself played an important role in creating. Rubashov spent a life filled with deceit, manipulation, and even murder, on behalf of the party and it’s “core values. Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank Turner, The Western Heritage, Prentice Hall (New Jersey, 2001)

“The characters in this book are fictitious. Rubashov’s personal terror and confusion while being held prisoner is adequately shared with the reader in chapter four of “The Second Hearing”. Several of them were personally known to the author. ” Koestler also demonstrated how the creation of the Soviet Union formed a nation of political prisoners. What was more honourable: to die in silence – or to abase oneself publicly in order to pursue one’s aims? He had sacrificed Arlova because his own existence was more valuable to the Revolution. The novel contains an eerie clarity that proves that Koestler had an emotional link to the Moscow trials and the political prisoners. Rubashov is a synthesis of the lives of a number of men who were victims of the so-called Moscow trials. The actual prison in which Rubashov is held is filled with people considered “enemies” of the party. Initially the Moscow leadership used these purges to discipline and gain more centralized control over lower levels of the party. It is still not historically certain why they made false confessions, although it seems to have been the kind of ritual confession that had characterized previous internal Communist party life. Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon, Bantam Books (New York, 1968)

Approximate Word count = 904
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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