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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rubashov do first when they lock him in his cell?

2. About how long does it take to travel to the prison from Rubashov’s home?

3. What does Ivanov say are the two conceptions of human ethics?

4. What happened to Arlova?

5. Where does Rubashov meet with Little Loewy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the agriculturist killed?

2. What does Rubashov do after he is told he will get no breakfast?

3. What is Rubashov’s relationship to Arlova and what happens to her?

4. What does Rubashov daydream about on his seventh day in prison?

5. What does Gletkin consider to be the best methods for getting confessions out of prisoners? Why does he feel this way?

6. Whom does Rubashov watch the guards escort down the hallway after Rubashov’s flashback? What does the man look like?

7. What is Rubashov’s flashback about after he is told he will get no breakfast?

8. What does Rubashov tell the warden when he is asked why he is not out of bed? What is the warden’s reply?

9. What was Prisoner 406’s sentence in his country of origin? How much time does he serve? How does he get out of prison?

10. What is Rubashov thinking by the time Ivanov leaves him the morning after Bogrov is killed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Koestler was an active Zionist (a believer that Jews should have a homeland in Palestine) during his youth, he supported the creation of an Israeli state after World War II, and later in his life he became very interested in spirituality.

Discuss the religious undertones in Darkness at Noon. Use examples from Darkness at Noon to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

Trace and analyze the theme of political philosophy in Darkness at Noon. Consider the following questions as you write: Examine which characters are most concerned with political philosophy and about what their concern is centered. How does political philosophy drive the plot? How is political philosophy responsible for the ultimate fate of Rubashov?

Trace and analyze the theme of individualism in Darkness at Noon. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? How is Rubashov’s suppression of his individualism responsible for Rubashov’s death? Why might a Communist state attempt to eradicate individualism?

Essay Topic 3

Stalin initiated the Moscow Show Trials. It was part of his manipulation to eliminate all those who could threaten his power. Based on Rubashov’s reflections about the Party and on what a revolution must do to stay in power, discuss the following:

Was Stalin solely responsible for the Moscow Show Trials, or do you think they reflect the inevitable tendency of the Bolsheviks? Use examples from Darkness at Noon to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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