Analysis Of Koestler's 'God That Failed'

Moral cynicism. Common blindness. Inhumane reality. Disappointment. Former Communist intellectuals use these words to depict the Soviet Russia- “heaven on Earth”- after their fundamental beliefs of Communism were violently shaken when they faced the harsh reality. A system of brotherhood, equality, rapid progress, and classless society were what the writers in “God That Failed” initially thought of the Soviet Union. Throughout their essays there is a realization-either gradual or sudden- that awakens these brilliant intellectuals from the numbness state and see this system for what it truly represents. An ideology that appealed to millions, Communism was epitomized as a savior that would bring unity and prosperity by fundamentally changing

Ideas such as classless society, equality between everyone, sense of unity, one party system, rapid economy development, zero unemployment could captivate anyone that was facing obstacles during that time period. Silone also talks about the attraction by Communism on certain categories of young men and of women, on intellectuals, and on the highly sensitive and generous people who suffer most from the “wastefulness of bourgeois society”(99). It was particularly these groups that were oppressed in society that found shelter in the Party and communism. Koestler was of Jewish background who was never given a chance to belong anywhere, an intellectual whose roots were “treated with a kind of cultural weed-killer”(Cesarani, New York Times). His Jewish identity was that of a member of a stereotype and through Communism he hoped to transcend his religion and ethnicity. Throughout the book there is a notion of belonging into the Party starting form the way that one was addressed, the brotherly love, and the Communist Party being one’s home, family, and life, thus it is not surprising why Koestler chose to be accept this ideology with open arms at

These writers embraced the Communist ideology with great zeal and saw it as the only way to end inequality in the world. Instead, through their personal experiences either in Soviet Russia or their own countries, they gradually saw the flaws and diverged from those principles they held dearly. Immorality of the elites, liquidation of opposition, censorship, fear of extermination, and Nazi-Soviet Pact drew all these intellectuals away from what they thought was an upcoming Utopia. “Russia had failed to become a God and she will never now arise from the fires of the Soviet ordeal” (Gide,