Arthur Koestler: ‘Darkness at Noon’
Revolutionary and political ethics
‘Darkness at Noon’ is the second novel of a trilogy, which revolves around the central theme of revolutionary ethics, and of political ethics in general: the problem whether, or to what extent, a noble ends justifies ignoble means, and the related conflict between morality and expediency. The theme of the novel relates to the ever-present predicament faced by the leaders of any political party or revolutionary movement, from the slave revolt in the first century to the Old Bolsheviks of the nineteen thirties. Revolutionary ethics or the issues faced in revolutionary movements are timeless, and as an incentive to writing his novel, Arthur Koestler was troubled by this theory, and also by the regime of terror that was governed by Stalin this century. This issue of whether a noble end justifies ignoble means is the revolutionary predicament that Koestler refers to, and was the question that he aspired to resolve.
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ – which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’
(Matthew 27:45-46)
Darkness at Noon is a fictional account of the truth behind the Stalinist State at the close of the infamous Moscow Show Trials in 1938, where forty-eight of the fifty-four on the executive of the Communist Party were dead. All members of the party knew that Lenin and Trotsky had been the real leaders of the Revolution and consequently they did not accept Stalin as the successor to Lenin. So accordingly, as Stalin was aware of the aspirations against him, as he consolidated power it became more dangerous to have known Lenin. The result of this was that over 70% of the Seventeenth Party Congress, which was held in 1934, had been arrested and executed; in Stalin’s opinion, these people had outlived their usefulness.
Through the thoughts and actions of the main character, Nicolas Salmanovitch Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik, the Soviet politics between 1917 and the Stalin era were outlined. The party’s transformation disturbed Rubashov, as a member of the party, but he did not wish to be expelled, so he continued to work with the Party against his conscious. Rubashov did everything that was asked of him, and therefore in essence he was a loyal Party member.
The tragedies of the holocaust forever altered history. One of the most detailed accounts of the horrific events from the Nazi regime comes from Elie Wiesel’s Night. He describes his traumatic experiences in German concentration camps, mainly Buchenwald, and engages his readers from a victim’s point of view. He bravely shares the grotesque visions that are permanently ingrained in his mind. His autobiography gives readers vivid, unforgettable, and shocking images of the past. It is beneficial that Wiesel published this, if he had not the world might not have known the extent of the Nazis reign. He exposes the cruelty of man, and the misuse of power. Through a lifetime of tragedy, Elie Wiesel struggled internally to resurrect his religious beliefs as well as his hatred for the human race. He shares these emotions to the world through Night.
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Night by Elie Wiesel was a memoir on one of the worst things to happen in human history, the Holocaust. A terrible time where the Nazi German empire started to take control of eastern Europe during WWII. This book tells of the terrible things that happened to the many Jewish people of that time. This time could easily change grown men, and just as easily a boy of 13. Elie’s relationship with God and his father have been changed forever thanks to the many atrocities committed at that time.
The October revolution of 1917 in Russia was a turning point that defined Russia as a nation. It was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the Russia that had completely changed the lives of the people at that time. The Russlander by Sandra Birdsell describes the live of a girl who was raised on a wealthy Mennonite estate. It seemed like her parents were ignoring all the troubles in the outside world, living a happy life together. But nothing lasts forever, and their happiness ended with the start of the revolution. At that time Katya was only 16 years old. Just like many people at that time she lost her family and friends, who were killed by the Bolsheviks. The conflict with the new leaders of the country started when her father refused to pay taxes and support his country, and ended with this horrible tragedy.
Effective organizations are able to clearly define their ethical expectations by setting high moral standards, writing codes of conduct, and utilizing mentoring programs. “Masters provide your servants with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven” (Col. 4:1). When organizations clearly define their ethical expectations to their subordinates, they are much more likely to treat their customers fairly. Customers who are treated fairly are much more likely to be loyal consumers of the products or services that the company provides. This helps to establish a loyal customer base that a business can depend upon, thus providing a predictable source of annual revenue. If an employer treats their employees with respect, honesty, and with candor they’ll give the customer 110% (Rion, 2001).
Dostoyevsky's writing in this book is such that the characters and setting around the main subject, Raskolnikov, are used with powerful consequences. The setting is both symbolic and has a power that affects all whom reside there, most notably Raskolnikov. An effective Structure is also used to show changes to the plot's direction and Raskolnikov's character. To add to this, the author's word choice and imagery are often extremely descriptive, and enhance the impact at every stage of Raskolnikov's changing fortunes and character. All of these features aid in the portrayal of Raskolnikov's downfall and subsequent rise.
Son of a poverty-stricken shoemaker, raised in a backward province, Joseph Stalin had only a minimum of education. However, he had a burning faith in the destiny of social revolution and an iron determination to play a prominent role in it. His rise to power was bloody and bold, yet under his leadership, in an unexplainable twenty-nine years, Russia because a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a despotic ruler who more than any other individual molded the features that characterized the Soviet regime and shaped the direction of Europe after World War II ended in 1945. From a young revolutionist to an absolute master of Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin cast his shadow over the entire globe through his provocative affair in Domestic and Foreign policy.
	"Russia’s War - Blood Upon the Snow" brought into view a more detailed, personal account of Stalin’s atrocities. People recalling memories they had of what it was like to live under Stalin’s paranoid rule. During his five-year plans to become a more industrialized nation, Stalin had thousands of people forced into building the White Sea Canal. They were made to continue working until they dropped from exhaustion. When it was completed in 1933 the workers who were still left were drowned in the canal. Another paranoid act Stalin ordered to be carried out was the murder of over a thousand members of the seventeenth congress. When Stalin held a vote to elect who the general secretary would be, three hundred votes were against him. He feared that he would be overthrown by Sergei Kirov, who only received three votes against him. Joseph Stalin, over a short period had Kirov murdered as well as one thousand out of nineteen hundred sixty-six committee members and ninety-eight out of one hundred and thirty-nine central committee members.
Imagine America today where alcohol is banned. People would think that this would help control order in America but banning alcohol would not be the best idea. Alcohol were those kinds of beverages that was used for centuries but is widely accepted by most people today. Most people would even want to try drinking alcohol in their lifetime. However, alcohol is one of the main social issues in America, being the cause of accidents, health deterioration, and crimes. There are people who are in favor of liquor, but there are others who are against the idea of alcohol. This brings us to the roaring twenties where the eighteenth amendment was in effect. The eighteenth amendment of the constitution, also known as “The Noble Experiment”, was an establishment of prohibiting the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the United States. The purpose of this amendment was to reduce the crimes and violence that involved the consumption of alcohol. The purpose was to also improve health and to prevent people from poverty. Thus began the Prohibition era. The amendment was a law that backfired in gaining control within America. Once the prohibition era started, it changed everything. There was organized crimes and corruption in the United States, the economy went bad, saloons were closed, leaving most owners in poverty, and violence had increased since mobsters smuggled and fought each other for the marketing of alcohol. The twenty first amendment which repealed the eighteenth amendment, thus making alcohol legal again. The prohibition era failed to control alcohol consumption because of the increase in organized crimes and that the government spent billions of dollars trying to prevent drinking in the United States .
Night by Elie Wiesel is a very sad book. The struggle that Eliezer endured is similar to one that we all face. Eliezer’s was during the holocaust. Ours can be during any period of life. If we set our priorities in our hearts, nothing can change them except ourselves. Night is a prime example of this inner struggle and the backwards progress that is possible with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It teaches that the mind truly is “over all.” As Frankl wrote, “Man’s inner strength may raise him above his outward fate,” no matter what the circumstance.
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 subconscious feelings of guilt are oftentimes represented physically in the form of toothache or through day- or night-dreams. As his thought progresses with the novel, he begins to recognize his guilt, which emerges alongside his individuality. It remains in his subconscious, and it is not until Rubashov absolves himself through silent resignation at his public trial that he is fully conscious of guilt. By joining the Party, Rubashov allows himself to forget the questions of human nature and of his individuality. The nature of his guilt lies in this betrayal of his individuality.
The Prohibition was started in the 1920s when the 18th Amendment was ratified. This leads to many disruptions in America. The 18th Amendment caused many people to become upset with the government. The 18th Amendment was the prohibition of alcohol but was this Prohibition really good for this country? This research paper will tell the positives and negatives of the Prohibition and the overall effect on the country. There are many arguments to both oppositions. This paper will be focusing more on the negative points of the argument. The Prohibition was put into effect on January 16 1920. There was very few people that supported The Prohibition. US leader and temperance movement groups supported it. Many People opposed the Prohibition including, the average citizen, teenagers, and the mafia.
After Vladimir Lenin, a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist, died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals and won the control of the Communist Party. In the tardy 1920’s he became dictator of the Soviet Cumulation. Then he wanted to industrialize the country because at the time the economic was farming. Millions of farmers reluctant to be apart of Stalin’s orders and were killed as penalization. The civilization led a widespread famine across the Soviet Coalescence and killed millions of people. Stalin wanted to kill anyone who opposed him of his orders. He engendered an army of secret police, and inspirited citizens to spy on others which had many people killed or sent to a labor camp. Virtually everyone around Stalin was considered a threat to him, even the Communist Party, the military, and components of the Soviet Coalescence society, s...
Prohibition was enacted in order to fix serious problems in the United States, however prohibition failed to reduce crime, violence, and consumption. Not only did prohibition fail to do the above, it also hurt the economy. Prohibition is defined as “a ban on the production, transportation and sale of liquor” (The American Journey, 590). In 1920 congress approved the Eighteenth Amendment that made the sale and consumption of alcohol illegal. Even though estimates suggest that alcohol consumption was cut by over fifty percent, prohibition brought new problems to America. These problems include the rise of speakeasies, gangsters, and bootlegging. The intent of prohibition was to lower crime, poverty, family violence, prostitution, and industrial accidents. Overall prohibition failed at improving moral judgment and instead caused some major problems.
Above all, a high level of ethics in your business should be in place at least for the customers. If anything, it is the customer that should be considered