Having read Koestler's novel, how would you characterize Soviet society in the 1930s? Was it dominated by terror and purges?

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        “Having read Koestler’s novel, how would you characterize Soviet society in the 1930s? Was it dominated by terror and purges?”        

Upon reading Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon and studying other works written on Soviet society in the 1930’s it is evident that it was a time dominated by violence, fear and one man’s monomania. People lived in a constant state of alert and nervousness which we cannot relate to in Canada today. A culture of helplessness and fear grasped Russia and would only be lifted with an end to the tyranny running the country. The 1930s saw the execution of millions of Russian citizens by their own leader in an attempt to stabilize his power base at any expense.

Joseph Stalin, leader of the communist party, was a man obsessed with achieving his goals. As he became more powerful, it became increasing difficult to make a distinction between his personal goals and those of the entire country as he forced his beliefs upon his people and party. He believed that Russia had to modernize or it would perish. He believed this not only in a metaphorical sense, meaning the life and well being of the nation, but also in a literal sense. His people were forced to change their ways and agree with him or they would lose their freedom or even life.

Having risen to power in tumultuous times and seen the damage divisions in the party caused he was obsessed with loyalty and demanded it from all. His paranoid personality saw to it that people who were even suspected of believing in ideas contrary to his own were placed somewhere that they would not be a disturbance. Many of the people who were detained in work camps or killed were innocent but the slightest rumor of anti-party activities could be grounds for execution or imprisonment.

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Today, it is difficult to grasp what it must have been like to live in a society where your friends and neighbors disappeared without a trace for unknown reasons.  Certainly this sense of insecurity would cause people to live in a state of constant nervousness and cautiousness. Such simple things as speaking openly about the news were not common practice as people never knew who could be trusted and who could not. This is sense of caution is illustrated well when Rubashov recalls meeting with Richard in an art gallery in a foreign country to discuss party affairs. Even though ...

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