Darkness at Noon

Koestler's title has two meanings. The first is captured in the phrase "darkness at noon." This refers to the betrayal of the hopes of those who believed that a revolution would create a paradise on...

Rubashov is a revolutionary who spent many years in the prisons and camps of the Tsar. He was one of those responsible for setting up the Soviet state, and was later imprisoned by Stalin's regime. He...

Rubashov wrote his "Theory of Relative Maturity" to explain the cyclical nature of political systems swinging between absolutism and democracy. He observed that the political maturity of the masses...

Darkness at Noon is an interesting depiction of life under Stalin because it shows the reader both the mechanisms of totalitarianism and the effect on individual characters, including those who are...

Rubashov's acknowledgment of guilt in "Darkness at Noon" is seen as despicable because it represents a betrayal of the revolutionary ideals he once championed. As a member of the Bolshevik Old Guard,...

Koestler uses the terms anti-vivisection morality and grammatical fiction to describe the totalitarian version of reality.

The identity of "No. 1" in Darkness at Noon is not explicitly revealed, but it is widely interpreted to represent Joseph Stalin. The character symbolizes the oppressive and authoritarian leadership...

Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon critiques Stalinism and Soviet Communism by depicting the psychological and moral dilemmas faced by individuals under a totalitarian regime. Through the protagonist...