Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

Study Questions
1. Why is Rubashov taken to the prison doctor?

2. Where is the room in which Rubashov is examined by Ivanov?

3. What is Ivanov’s relationship to Rubashov?

4. Why, according to Ivanov, did Rubashov leave the Party’s homeland?

5. What crime does Ivanov want Rubashov to confess?

Answers
1. Rubashov is taken to the prison doctor to receive treatment for his toothache.

2. The room in which Rubashov is examined by Ivanov is at the end of the corridor housing the prison’s administrative department.

3. Ivanov is a college friend of Rubashov’s and served as commander of his battalion.

4. Ivanov says Rubashov left the Party’s homeland because his close friends there had been executed by the Party.

5. Ivanov wants Rubashov to confess to the crime of having belonged to a group opposing the Party.