No. 1’s Portrait
In almost every room (besides the prison cells), the portrait of the Party leader No. 1 hangs from the wall. Rubashov tends to perceive the leader’s facial expression differently depending on the circumstance. Sometimes, the…
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Christian Symbolism
Before the 1917 Russian Revolution, Orthodox Christians were the majority religion in Russia. Subsequently, the Bolsheviks in power began a process of removing the power and authority of the Church, delegitimizing it through propaganda campaigns…
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Toothache
Rubashov has been plagued by toothache for years, since well before his imprisonment: he’s bothered by it during his travels as a diplomat in Germany, for instance. It’s particularly bothersome to him when he arrives…
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Dreams
As Darkness at Noon opens, the protagonist, Rubashov, is having one of his recurring dreams: that the police have come to arrest him, but he is too paralyzed to move. This time, though, he…
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