Darkness At Noon, Arthur Koestler, author; Frank Muller, narrator
As a young man, Nicolas Rubashov is a revolutionary idealist. He is determined to bring change to his country, as he sees fit, in order to give the citizens more rights and freedoms and to end society’s abuses. However, along the way, he and his fellow revolutionaries abuse their own power, in order to retain it. Soon, they sacrifice each other as each attempts to climb higher to the number one position! Once the number one position is attained, it is not easy to remain there. Leaders topple unless they rule with an iron fist. Therefore, the people they are forced to associate with are the ones who are intolerant of ideas that disagree in any way with the ideas of the ruling party, people who will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo. Some who were once heroes, will soon become enemies of the people to satisfy the party’s appetite.
The original revolutionary rule book and original purpose of the revolution is rewritten as the old one disappears into the morass of new regulations designed to maintain order and promote absolute obedience with a strict adherence to the government’s rules and regulations. Failure to follow the rules leads to arrest and various forms of mental and physical abuse, as well as imprisonment; sometimes, even a sentence of death will follow for minor infractions. To encourage blind obedience, the citizenry must be kept largely ignorant and afraid. Knowledge will breed dissent, so ignorance is encouraged. To engender the fear in the masses, victims are chosen and witnesses created for false crimes against the party. Sworn confessions condemn the victim and the accuser. No dissent can be tolerated. To prevent the government from toppling, sacrificial lambs are disposed of by those who are stronger and want to retain the power.
When Rubashov became disillusioned with the party and its ever-changing goals, he designed his own secret plan to unseat the current ruling authority. Acting like a double agent, working underground with commoners who trusted him and became informers, he continued to work above ground, in the upper echelons of the party. He used the informers and coldly sacrificed them to reach his goal. The first time he was arrested, he escaped severe punishment with his signed confession. However, he never broke, and they never broke his will. After serving the short sentence, he was welcomed back into the party with privileges.
He continued to work toward his own revolutionary goals even allowing innocent people to suffer and/or die in his stead. He saved his own skin and continued to work to bring his own plans to fruition. The second time he was arrested was very different. The party had totally changed and he was on the wrong side of history. He had failed. Rubashov is accused of subversive behavior, punishable by death. The government is corrupt and exists to prop up the current leader, by any means. Yesterday’s heroes become today’s villains if it serves the purpose of the current leadership. As one or another gains control, they eliminate those beneath them. This is a government that demands blind, unquestioned obedience. Once heroic figures, are executed after they are forced to make false confessions about their treasonous behavior. Other times they are forced to condemn others of crimes they did not commit. They are coerced through the use of torture or the promise of their own freedom if they will cooperate with the party for the sake of the party.
Rubashov believed he could restore the party to its original purpose, the one the Old Guard fought for, but they were gone, many were dead and buried, murdered by the very regime they built. Yesterday’s hero will eventually become tomorrow’s enemy. Even those at the very top were never safe. Often they became victims of their own barbarism as the power ultimately changed hands.
In the end one wonders is Revolution ever a worthy endeavor or, indeed, does power corrupt absolutely in all cases? Written by a man who had witnessed the tyranny of the Communist Party, and survived several run-ins and arrests, in several countries, Koestler had the credentials to pen this moving novel. The narrator perfectly interpreted the narrative.