Free Essays on Darkness at Noon

, Rubashov desires a society where individualism is virtually negated. While in prison, Rubashov has a meeting with one such former comrade, Ivanov. However, this man lets slip in one instance his anti-party beliefs, and is replaced by Gletkin, a closeted individualist, who quickly orders the murder of Ivanov. With this series of events, Koestler makes the political statement that it is impossible for a dictatorship to be overthrown and replaced with anything else but a dictatorship because it is only human nature to want to succeed and that eventually certain men and women will rise from the anonymous x. In addition to powerful political statements, Koestler also points out certain social patterns that emerge in this society. When in prison, Rubashov paces back and forth in his cell compulsively smoking cigarettes, retracing his history in the revolution and the actions he had taken. In a quote inserted in the novel, Saint Just states, â€Å"Nobody can rule guiltlessly.ï ¿ ½... Free Essays on Darkness at Noon Free Essays on Darkness at Noon Darkness At Noon In the novel, Darkness at Noon, by Koestler, Rubashov learns about himself, and makes an effort to cross the hazy lines between his conscience and his beliefs. Rubashov's realization of the individual aspect of morality is a gradual process, satisfying his internal arguments and questions of guilt. His confession to Gletkin reflects the logic that Rubashov had used (both by himself and his political regime), as well as his internal conflicts. He questioned the inferior value of the human, in respect to the priceless value of humanity. Rubashov's ideas on communism, he found, were blurred by his dedication to the Soviet revolutionaries, and ordeal that compromised his life to solve. In many ways, Rubashov was an antagonist to himself. One way Rubashov defeated his goal was by giving in to suit others. "The Party denied the free will of the individual - and at the same time it exacted his willing self-sacrifice†¦ There was somewhere an error in the calculation; t! he equation did not work out."(204) Rubashov's confession implies a submission of his personal ego to a larger purpose, and he questions himself as to whether it is worth it. His ideals were not his own, but rather the ideals that the communist revolutionaries forced him to have. Rubashov was a man who thinks extremely logical in every situation; he follows every idea "†¦down to its final consequence."(80) He is an elite intellectual, but even as Ivanov and Gletkin question his line of thinking, Rubashov constantly asks himself the same questions. He justifies his rational by reminding himself that he is working for a more perfect society, no matter what the cost. As stated in the first partition of his confession, he heard only those being sacrificed, and forgot or ignored why they were being sacrificed. Rubashov's selfishness also led to his demise. He, from the beginning, realized that he has made an error in his judgment; however, he listens to Ivanov's a... Free Essays on Darkness At Noon Darkness at Noon In America today, as in all countries at war or engulfed in revolution, there is turbulence in what society feels about different theories and issues challenging the peace of our nation. In Arthur Koestler’s historical fiction Darkness at Noon, a post-revolutionary society once again faces such conflict with the Communist party replacing an old dictatorship. In his novel, Koestler makes several significant political, social, and philosophical statements, which serve to clarify the motivations and justify the reasoning behind why such unrest takes place in this society. Koestler’s story unfolds with the incarceration of Nicolas Salamanovich Rubashov, an aging revolutionary that had served side by side with Stalin, who he refers to as â€Å"No. 1†. Together they had fought a dictatorship and pressed for a society where â€Å"politics means working with x [the anonymous masses] without worrying about its actual nature†. In other words, Rubashov desires a society where individualism is virtually negated. While in prison, Rubashov has a meeting with one such former comrade, Ivanov. However, this man lets slip in one instance his anti-party beliefs, and is replaced by Gletkin, a closeted individualist, who quickly orders the murder of Ivanov. With this series of events, Koestler makes the political statement that it is impossible for a dictatorship to be overthrown and replaced with anything else but a dictatorship because it is only human nature to want to succeed and that eventually certain men and women will rise from the an onymous x. In addition to powerful political statements, Koestler also points out certain social patterns that emerge in this society. When in prison, Rubashov paces back and forth in his cell compulsively smoking cigarettes, retracing his history in the revolution and the actions he had taken. In a quote inserted in the novel, Saint Just states, â€Å"Nobody can rule guiltlessly.ï ¿ ½...