In the enthralling novel Child 44, wrote by Tom Rob Smith, the powerful and cold country of USSR, under the rule of Joseph Stalin, is undergoing significant changes; this new communist society enforces the strict policy that “there is no crime”. In the meantime, a war hero and MGB member, Leo Demidov, is set out by his superiors to cover up, what is known to be a railway accident; when in reality, it was a certain murder. Conversely, when more bodies are found dead and the same imprints are left; their mouths stuffed with tree bark and their stomachs expurgated from their bodies, Leo cannot help himself but onset to believe that there is a cold hearted murderer travelling around the Soviet Union and killing innocent individuals. Although …show more content…
(Smith 26) This type of an environment, motivated by congenial intentions, and imposed by brutal force, created the perfect conditions for a serial killer to travel around the great Soviet Union and murder hundreds of people. As a consequence of this new transition to a state of “no crime”, officers were required to find and declare someone guilty, regardless of their innocence, creating the perfect environment for Andrei Sidorov, to travel around and kill freely without any retribution applied back. Smith’s description of the “enemies of the party” were regarded as more inferior than “spies” and “saboteurs”, is foreshadowing the prejudicial actions implemented on Leo Demidov and to all the people to whom the Ministry of State Security and the Party line thought they were “doubters of the society which awaited them”. Accordingly, these people were tortured and persuaded into confessing lies; for motives that Leo Demidov was fighting for, discovering the real murderer responsible for these merciless crimes. However, for the state officials to declare this a nationwide murder is the equivalent to taking “a giant step backwards.” Leo Demidov, a war hero and most importantly an MGB officer who has come accustomed to giving orders was always uncomfortable to the sound of denial. In fear of this man’s uncomforting feeling towards rejection and his well settlement in the MGB
This highlighted not only Stalin’s fear of being subsided as leader of the USSR, but his ruthlessness in the face of opposition. Then followed the 1936 Show Trials, in which there were many arrests of party members, ex-opponents, military figures and non-party members. The first involved Zinoviev, Kamanev and their allies, who confessed under force for falsified crimes of being responsible for attempts to wreck Soviet industry and to kill Soviet leaders, and subsequently were shot after being convicted. The second followed in January 1937, in which Karl Radek, a well known Trotskyite and Pyatakov was shot, again on falsified crimes. In March 1938, Bukharin and 20 members of the old Right Deviation were tried, and found guilty of working with Trotsky and foreign governments against the USSR. All confessed and were shot, with Tomsky being so crippled by fear that he committed suicide. The Show Trials were a grotesque sham by which Stalin cast immense fear into the hearts and minds of Russia’s political clout, ensuring total control over any opposition through fear alone. Removal of any potential opposition was extended in July 1937 when Yezhov (Stalin’s head of the secret police from 1936) drew up a list of over 250,000 ‘Anti-Soviet elements’, which included intelligentsia such as artists, writers, musicians, priests and so forth. This became known as the Anti-Soviet List, ad anyone unfortunate enough to be found on it was arrested,
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a novel by John Boyne. This novel is set during World War 2 and explores themes such as prejudice, racism, war, innocence and friendship. What sets it apart from other novels is that it uses a third person limited point of view, and mostly depicts events as they are seen by a young and naïve boy. This was one of the main narrative conventions that engaged me in this novel.
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.
Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character.
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;
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.
In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s, Crime and Punishment, the conclusion of the novel plays an important role in resolving and reconciling a multitude of conflicts within the characters. For Dostoyevsky, the resolution of the story plays a significant purpose not only in resolving the various crimes committed, but additionally acting as a moral reassessment for the characters that helps the audience reflect upon their own morals as well. Accordingly, through Dostoyevsky’s portrayal of the troubling abuses committed by the characters due to their lack of regard for the law, a large portion of the novel emphasizes the concept of a universal morality that should be intrinsic to humanity. Through the analysis of the repercussions of Raskolnikov’s crimes, Svidrigailov’s crimes, and the juxtaposition between them,
The blood of the deceased cries out for justice, if not vengeance, deep in the Belanglo state forest. While I do lament for the precious lives of the murdered, I will not rejoice in the premeditated sabotage of innocent people to create facades that justice has been served. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant Ivan Milat never committed any homicide and any endeavour to argue otherwise is futile because it’s just not true. Throughout the legal manoeuvring and botched investigation that has plagued this case, one keystone has become obscured and that is justice. Too worried about their reputation, the officers in charge of this investigation fabricated fortified fortresses of lies, repressed the admissible in the case and indoctrinated
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.
From Stalin’s Cult of Personality to Khrushchev’s period of De-Stalinization, the nation of the Soviet Union was in endless disarray of what to regard as true in the sense of a socialist direction. The short story, This is Moscow Speaking, written by Yuli Daniel (Nikolai Arzhak) represents the ideology that the citizens of the USSR were constantly living in fear of the alternations of their nation’s political policies. Even more, the novella gives an explanation for the people’s desire to conform to the principles around them.
That Rodya is convinced by this line of reasoning to the point of action suggests that he also is devoid of the deontological ethics that are associated with the traditional, Orthodox Russia. Rodya’s willingness to commit this heinous crime which ultimately destroys not only Alyona, but also Rodya himself and the innocent Lizaveta suggests that Dostoevsky's novel is a critique of the nihilistic utilitarianism of Rodya.
‘Murderer!’ he said suddenly, in a low but clear and distinct voice (pg. 231). In just one word (Part 3, Chapter VI of Crime and Punishment), the stranger’s direct label is a stabbing remark in opposition of Raskolnikov’s assumed identity. It is the debasement of a man-god, to be more apt a superman, who is ever so close to falling off the perch and into the abyss. “It was impossible to be sure, but it seemed to Raskolnikov that his face again wore its coldly hostile and triumphant smile” (231). Raskolnikov as the extraordinary man seeks not greatness but justice to serve his pursuits. The elevation is left to the ordinary people who are willing subordinates as puppets along the string.
Dostoevsky’s insightful interpretation of social injustice and the appropriate reactions to such an act inspired his works which led to many books addressing such issues, yet Fyodor also shows how such justifications lead to both social and moral repercussions (Frank). In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov quickly finds himself in a moral dilemma based on his regret and post hoc questioning of his actions.