Darkness at Noon Questions and Answers: Part 1—The First Hearing—Chapters 8-9
by Arthur Koestler

Study Questions
1. What does Rubashov imagine the officer thinks of him?

2. How is the prisoners’ quadratic alphabet organized?

3. Why does Rubashov tell No. 402 when he last slept with a woman?

4. Where does Rubashov meet Richard?

5. Why does the cab driver decide to give Rubashov a free ride?

Answers
1. Rubashov imagines the officer thinks he is an arrogant, self-righteous intellectual who deserves to be executed.

2. The quadratic alphabet is organized as a square of letters containing five rows and five letters in each row.

3. Rubashov tells No. 402 when he last slept with a woman because No. 402 might provide him with a way to communicate with the other prisoners.

4. Rubashov meets Richard in the art museum of a small south German town.

5. The cab driver decides to give Rubashov a free ride because he sympathizes with the Party and he has realized that Rubashov is in the Party.