Communism Fails at Practice - Darkness at Noon

Penny Tuñon

659089 ENC 1102

Final Research Paper

December 7, 2011

The Failures of Communism at Practice

Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon is a novel about a political prisoner during a time of Communism. Koestler used his own experience with the Moscow Trials of 1938 in combination with a few other Communist activities that had occurred in the past and fictionalized them into this book. The practice of Communism is debated throughout the entire novel and, in the end, is proven to be a failure in the hands of humanity. Even though the idea of it seems ideal and peaceful and harmonious, the practice of it has always met with failure, seen the murders of masses of people, erased independence, and abolished morality. From reading through the imprisonment of Nicolas Salmonovitch Rubashov, the effects of Communism can be clearly seen in these several departments: government, the masses, the individual, and in morality itself.

Communism itself has more than one definition. There’s the idea of communism, and then there’s the practice of Communism. Communism with a small “c” is an ideology that can be summarized by the maxim: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” (What is Communism?) This is also referred to as socialism. The purpose is that everyone puts in an effort to make a better society; those who are able to earn more are to give to those who earn less, making the line between upper class and lower class disappear altogether. This is the most equal and peaceful type of society one can live in if all members of the society are willing to work towards it. Communism with a capital “C” is what we know as modern day Communism, which can be linked back to the writings of German economists Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels in “The Communist Manifesto” published in 1848. (What is Communism?) In practice, someone has to be the one to distribute the wealth from the rich to the poor—a job which is left to the governing body. The process of...