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mwh10a-IDR-O414_P13 12/15/200311:39AMPage36 36 Name R through, theywouldprintten-year-old photographs while, butabroadthesensationwouldsoonleak yet; insidethecountry, itwouldbekeptsecretfora the forceofgravity. Hisarrestcouldnotbeinit American haddiscoveredthemeanstocounteract the headofastatehadbeenmurdered,oran Perhaps arevolutionhadbrokenoutlastnight,or crackling andrustlingofthepages. smell theprinter’s inkandhearthe per. It wassostrongthathecould sudden wildcravingforanewspa- refused himinanycase.Hehada him; theneedlewouldprobablybe thread fromthewarderprevented door andrequestneedle thought ofhavingtoknockonthe wanted todarnthem,butthe of eachsocktherewasahole.He toes, butitboredhim.Intheheel to watchthemovementsofhis and hethrewitoff.Heagaintried blanket becameanuisancetohim, sure. Thestalewarmthofthe thought Rubashov, butitgavehimnomoreplea- and bangedthedoor. taken tothedoctorbeforeto-morrow.” slippers, remainedatthedoor: the dooropened.Thewarder, alittleoldmanin grind intheheavylock.Ittooksometimebefore into thecell;amomentlaterkeydidactually he knewthatapupilpressedtotheholewasstaring Section 2 Now Icanatleastremainlyingherequietly, “Toothache, isit?”saidthewarder, shuffledout “Toothache,” saidRubashov. “What isthematterwithyou?You cannotbe “I amill,”saidRubashov. “Why didn’t yougetup?”heasked. Unit 14 CHAPTER watched throughthespy-hole.Without looking, ubashov hadthefeelingthathewasbeing 4 , Chapter LITERATURE SELECTION and leftin1938.Hisnovel during the1930s.HeeventuallybecamedisillusionedwithCommunistParty Hungarian-born BritishauthorArthurKoestler(1905–1983)wasaCommunist about No.1,thetotalitarianleader. read thisexcerpt,thinkabouthowthemaincharacter, N.S.Rubashov, feels aging Communistrevolutionarywhohasbeenarrestedandimprisoned.Asyou the purgetrialsof1930sinStalinistRussiafrompointviewan 14 staring intothecell. that apupilpressed feeling thathewas Rubashov hadthe looking, heknew through thespy- to theholewas being watched hole. Without Darkness atNoon, by ArthurKoestler from Darkness atNoon swelled toentrails[intestines], theycurledround board withdrawing-pins.Thewhorlsofgreymatter colour onasheetofpaperstretcheddrawing- through thatbrain,paintedneatlywithgreywater- brain? Hepicturedtohimselfacross-section rapidly becamedizzy. WhatwentoninNo.1’s one didnotchangethedirectionofturn thoughts hadnotleftNo.1forasecond,1, and healreadyknewthepatternbyheart.Buthis never walkingontheedgesofpavingstones, realizing it.Hewascaughtagainbyhisoldritualof last ﬁveminutes;hehadrisenfromthebedwithout he himselfhadbeenwalkingupanddownforthe not blowrings..Rubashovnoticedsuddenlythat with aruler. No.1didnotmove,play, did down whiledictating,blewsmoke-ringsorplayed to astenographer. Otherpeoplewalkedupand elbows propped,heavyandgloomy, slowlydictating brain ofNo.1.Hesawhimsittingathisdesk, greed desiredtoknowwhatwasgoingoninthe longer wantedanewspaper, butwiththesame of nonsenseabouthimandNo.1.Henowno dug outofthenewspaperarchivesandpublishalot published in1941,isthestoryof Date left: itwasanoldprisonhabit;if to theright,atwindow steps back.Atthedoorheturned half stepsthere,sixanda wash-basin andbucket,sixa window andback,betweenbunk, in thecell,fromdoorto eyes. stared atpeoplewithitsfrozen sideboard inthecountryand which hungovereverybedor that well-knowncolour-print, turned intohisownportrait, ing immovably, hadgradually who, sittingathisdeskanddictat- Rubashov walkedupanddown

Name Darkness at Noon continued

one another like muscular snakes, became vague quarter of the twentieth century led to the triumph and misty like the spiral nebulae, on astronomical of the totalitarian principle in the East of Europe.” charts. . . . What went on in the inﬂated grey Until this stage was reached, politics would remain whorls? One knew everything about the far-away bloody dilettantism, mere superstition and black nebulae, but nothing about the whorls. That was magic. . . . probably the reason that history was more of an from Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon (New York: oracle [prediction] than a science. Perhaps later, Macmillan, 1941), 10–12. much later, it would be taught by means of tables of statistics, supplemented by such anatomical sec- tions. The teacher would draw on the blackboard Discussion Questions an algebraic formula representing the conditions of Determining Main Ideas life of the masses of a particular nation at a particu- 1. What does Rubashov do to pass the time in lar period: “Here, citizens, you see the objective prison? factors which conditioned this historical process.” 2. What does he want to know about No. 1? And, pointing with his ruler to a grey foggy land- 3. Making Inferences Why do you think Rubashov scape between the second and third lobe of No. 1’s thinks obsessively about No. 1? brain: “Now here you see the subjective reﬂection of these factors. It was this which in the second cDougal Littell Inc. All rights reserved. ©M

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