Together
with Brave New World by
Huxley (1932), We by
Zamyatin (1920-1921) and
Nineteen Eighty-Four by
Orwell (1948), Darkness
at Noon
is one of the principal
dystopian or anti-utopian novels of the twentieth century.
Although
some may disagree regarding
the choice of novels
–
there are, after all, many novels that fall into that category –
most would agree that all
these novels highlight the danger of
dubious
utopian societies and their power to completely annihilate all values associated with normality and justice. Sometimes these societies are placed in the future; other times they are an actual part of our reality.
Koestler,
a Hungarian, (born
1905, died 1983)
wrote
Darkness at Noon
after becoming
disillusioned with
Communism when
Stalin
began his purges in
the late 1930s. The
book does not directly refer to the soviet regime or to Stalin
(Stalin is portrayed in the book as No.1), and
the
story centres on a man called
Nicholas Salmanovitch Rubashov,
an
old Bolshevik. At
the beginning of the novel, Rubashov
is captured
by the government's security police and is thrown
into
prison. He is not completely sure what
will happen to him, but he
suspects
that he will probably be shot. An
idealist, he
has
always believed
that
the utopia
promised by socialism was worth the thousands, if not millions, of
lives sacrificed. But, as he ruminates in prison, he is well aware
that the goal is still well beyond reach. He
had always been a loyal party member, yet, sitting in his
isolation cell, he is no longer certain that the
intimidation and cruelty he and many others have used was the right way to try
to achieve
the goal. Hours
of solitary confinement and several
interrogation sessions make
him realize that replacing ideals with brutality simply
negates
any
possibility of reaching the utopia that once may have seemed possible.
In
one part of the book Koestler quotes Machiavelli when he says:
“Occasionally
words must serve to veil the facts. But this must happen in such a
way that no one becomes aware of it; or, if it should be noticed,
excuses must be at hand to
be produced immediately.” (p.135, paperback edition, published 1984, Bantam Books). Worth considering, perhaps, in relation not only to the anti-utopian society of Darkness at Noon but also in relation to facets of present-day society.
Darkness
at Noon
is actually the second book in a trilogy where
the first book is The
Gladiators
and the third is Arrival
and Departure.