Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

Start Your Free Trial

Topics for Further Study

(Novels for Students)

Rubashov has been compared to Soviet political leaders Karl Radek, Nicolai Bukharin, and Christian Rakovsky, as well as to Koestler himself. Research the lives of these figures and determine which of them you believe influenced Rubashov’s character, and how. Is Rubashov a fair representation of the leaders tried from 1936 to 1938? Did he have the same motivation for confessing?
Koestler was an active Zionist (a believer that Jews should have a homeland in Palestine) during his youth, he supported the creation of an Israeli state after World War II and later in his life he became very interested in spirituality. What are the religious undertones in Darkness at Noon ? What is the nature of...

(The entire section is 234 words.)

Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Darkness at Noon study guide and get instant access to the following:

You'll also get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and 300,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.

Already a member? Log in here.

Next:What Do I Read Next?

What is the significance of the title, Darkness at Noon?

Darkness at Noon represents the philosophical and political ideal of the revolutionary ideology and social morality, cannot possibly function or work. Koestler says, —“Wherever [Rubashov’s]...
What does the novel Darkness at Noon tell us about totalitarianism and life under Stalin?

The author of Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler, actually was a communist who sympathized with the Soviet revolution and went to live and work there for years, saw firsthand the brutality of...
In Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon, who is "No. 1" supposed to be?

Most people don't know this about Arthur Koestler, the author of the book, but he was at one time, himself a communist. He was in the German Communist Party, and also lived in the Soviet Union...
How does totalitarianism relate to the book Darkness at Noon?

A totalitarian state is that which is run by one party, or more often, by one person, with little to no individual freedoms or rights. The people are often referred to in the collective (for...
Can I have advice on choosing a theorist essay with which to compare Darkness at Noon?

Since Darkness at Noon deals heavily with the concepts of individuality and consciousness, you might do well to select "Consciousness Derived from Material Conditions" by Karl Marx for a...