Darkness at Noon | Summary

The First Hearing
Darkness at Noon begins with its main character, Rubashov, being locked in his solitary prison cell, No. 404, where he falls asleep, dreaming of his arrest, until the 7 a.m. bugle call. When he wakes, Rubashov meditates on whether he will be shot, saying to himself, “‘The old guard is dead.… We are the last,’” and rubbing his “pince-nez” (eyeglasses that stay on the nose with a spring). After a “big man in uniform,” later revealed to be examiner Gletkin, tells him he gets no breakfast because he has a toothache,...

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