Darkness At Noon Analysis

Raskolnikov’s brusque affectation eventually yields to his predilection for salvation and redemption. He ultimately comes to the realization that he is not worthy of being “extraordinary” because of the crippling guilt that followed his murder of the pawnbroker. Raskolnikov reflects upon the implications of his crime on his psyche, “I murdered myself, not her! I crushed myself once for all,

The book “A Night Divided,” is a great book. It is about a girl named Gerta and her family. She has an older brother Fritz, a brother Dominic, her father (papa) and her mother Frau Lowe. The Berlin Wall had just gone up after the Second World War separating East and West Germany, and her and her family live in the West. One night her brother Dominic and her father decide they need to get through the wall for work without guards noticing because the consequences could be deadly. Her brother and Father make it across but they cannot find a way to come back because the wall has been added on and is even more dangerous now. Gerta ends up not being able to talk to her father or brother for at least 4 years. One day Gerta was walking to school with her best friend Anna when she see’s her brother, Dominic on the other side of the wall and waves. She eventually ended up seeing her dad to but then she got caught by an officer by the name of Officer Muller. She ended up getting away from the Officer but she knew he would be watching her every move from now on. But everyday when she goes to school she see’s them on the platform and her dad is doing a dance that he always did for her as a kid when they were little. But, he continues doing the digging scene from the dance trying to give her a signal that he wants her to do something or he is going to do something. But if Gerta tries to cross that wall it could be deadly and we don’t know what would happen.

cannot accept that some people speak to him without having the intention of hurting him in

Night and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich express the potential horrors of humanity’s immense capacity for extreme cruelty. Both took place in mid-twentieth century Europe and exposed the hardships of life in forced-labor camps: Wiesel’s in various concentration camps, Solzhenitsyn’s in Gulags. It is important for human populations to be aware of these tragedies so as to not commit the same atrocities again; therefore, this essay will explore each with regards to shared or different themes included and the messages presented. Both of these books are important due to their influential and informative nature regarding the horrors of their respective historical times. Night by Elie Wiesel and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr

The Great Terror was one of the single greatest loss of lives in the history of the world. It was a crusade of political tyranny in the Soviet Union that transpired during the late 1930’s. The Terrors implicated a wide spread cleansing of the Communist Party and government officials, control of peasants and the Red Army headship, extensive police over watch, suspicion of saboteurs, counter-revolutionaries, and illogical slayings. Opportunely, some good did come from the terrors nonetheless. Two of those goods being Sofia Petrovna and Requiem. Both works allow history to peer back into the Stalin Era and bear witness to the travesties that came with it. Through the use of fictional story telling and thematic devises Sofia Petrovna and Requiem, respectively, paint a grim yet descriptive picture in a very efficient manner.

With that thought in mind, we are back to looking at how Arthur Koestler portrayed the character of Rubashov as a vehicle to illustrate the struggle between the ideas of the party and of the individual. The conspicuous disagreement of the Communist Party is the contention between

Before Night Falls tells the story of Reinaldo Arenas, a Cuban writer who suffered for many years and dealt with tragic circumstances all throughout his life. Living during Fidel Castro’s harsh regime as a homosexual male led to several years of torture, for he was imprisoned, but ultimately set free. Additionally, his writing was bold and went against everything that Castro represented, and he took extreme risks to get his work published in other countries. The world heard the prolific voice of Arenas, while the Cuban government, his fellow writers, and even his lovers tried to silence him. Arenas was an extremely important figure in Latin culture. This is not simply because his work was profound; his life gives us a deeper look at the difficulties of struggling with homosexuality, masculinity, and finding freedom. He embodies resilience, charisma, determination, and at the same time fragility, weakness and pain.

Rubashov, though a committed Marxist, during his time in the prison seems vexed by the notion that the end justifies the means because he has himself seen that the final result is often not what is seen in the present moment but the truth that becomes apparent only in the light of retrospective thought. Rubashov realizes that it is only history that can pass judgment and thus, the shooting of B. and thirty others by No. 1 will be decided later “He who is in the wrong must pay; he who is in the right will be absolved. That is the law of historical credit;

Night is a memoir by Elie Wiesel about his time with the Nazis during the holocaust. It encompasses the time span of life in his village before when all the residents heard whispers and rumors of the Germans that they barely believed, to being freed at last by the Red Army. Throughout this time we watch Wiesel transform from a man who adamantly believes in his faith to one who believes that the Nazis stole his God from him. Ellie struggles to to maintain his faith and finally gives it up for good.

Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon depicts the fallacious logic of a totalitarian regime through the experiences of Nicolas Salmanovitch Rubashov. Rubashov had fought in the revolution and was once part of the Central Committee of the Party, but he is arrested on charges of instigating attempted assassinations of No. 1, and for taking part in oppositional, counter-revolutionary activities, and is sent to a Soviet prison. Rubashov, in his idle pacing throughout his cell, recollects his past with the Party. He begins to feel impulses of guilt, most especially in those moments he was required to expel devoted revolutionaries from the Party, sending them to their death. These

“Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.” This is a direct quote from one of the most notorious men in history, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid 1920’s until his death. The period in which he ruled over the Soviet Union was known as the Reign of Terror because he was a malicious leader who was ready to do anything to maintain the level of power he achieved. He will forever be remembered as a cold blooded and heartless leader, who took the lives of millions without remorse. This research paper will cover this notorious and deceitful dictator and his early life, rise to power, his reign of terror, and the aftermath of his actions.

Were it a testimony to the rigors and cruelness of human nature, it would be crushing. As it is, it shatters our perception of man and ourselves as no other book, besides perhaps Anne Franke`s diary and the testimony of Elie Wiesl, could ever have done. The prisoners of the labor camp, as in Shukhov?s predicament, were required to behave as Soviets or face severe punishment. In an almost satirical tone Buinovsky exclaims to the squadron that ?You?re not behaving like Soviet People,? and went on saying, ?You?re not behaving like communist.? (28) This type of internal monologue clearly persuades a tone of aggravation and sarcasm directly associated to the oppression?s of communism.

Ivanonv represents the group of people that, though cynical, are obedient to the Party but are understanding of the ulterior motives of others. This is indicated through the conduct of Ivanov as well as the transaction between Rubahsov and Ivanov, where Ivanov states: “I do not want you to be shot…” (Koestler 82). Though there are many other characters, these three specifically create and influence the story with the most significance. These characters are represented as such because Koestler wishes to show the audience of the mistakes of Gletkin, as well as the tragedies of the Rubashov and Ivanov.

The purpose of this analysis is to show how the themes of the novel are loosely based on the events in the soviet union, and the similarities between the world of big brother and Joseph Stalin’s communistic leadership.

Throughout the novel, the theme of the contrasting old guard juxtaposed with the new guard holds an important position. It also held an important place throughout the purges and show trials. By underlining this idea throughout the novel, Koestler shows both the importance of this idea and of the prominent differences these groups had. The characters of Wassilij, Vera Wassiljovna, Ivanov, and Gletkin illustrate the idea of old vs. new that was underlined throughout the purges. First mentioned on page 5, Wassilij (initially called Vassilij) is the porter where Rubashov lives. He had fought with Rubashov’s regiment in the civil war and clearly respected him. Next to his picture of No. 1, Vassilij had hung a picture of Rubashov (6). Vassilij is clearly a member of the older group of Russian society. He was particularly religious, an idea that No. 1 had worked to stamp out. This idea was mentioned the first time he was mentioned—when he added a “heartfelt Amen under his breath, so that the daughter should not hear it…crossed