The Great Purges In Arthur Koestler's Darkness At Noon

Under the shadow of the great industrial powers of the west, the Soviet Union was forced to rush the process of industrialization in order to catch up with it’s advanced neighboring states. Japan was in a similar position during the 20th century, though Japan’s reaction to the pressure was much more successful than Soviet industrialization. Japan’s industrialization was more prosperous and smooth than Russia’s because of the differences in treatment of factory workers, and adaptations to the developed foreign trade market, which ultimately diminished the efficiency of Russian industrialization.

In analysis of Vera Figner’s Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Figner expressed a few political goals that led her to assume violence as the only answer to the economic, political, and social injustices forced upon the peasants, by the government authority and Russian traditions. All of Figner’s energy was spent in effort to achieve these goals at any cost. These goals were to use influential propaganda, to educate the peasants1, and to kill the Tsar. All of which, were used to motivate a peasant uprising, to remove2 the suppressive Tsarist regime and to give birth to democratically3 free institutions4. To justify her violent means, she used her personal belief that there were no other peaceful ways, that they had not tried, to provide liberty and justice for the peasants.5

In the book, Night, Dehumanization majorly affects the Jews. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than things. It makes the Jews want to give up. There are many examples of dehumanization, including beating, selection, and robbery.

Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy is a work of historical fiction that captures the execution of the infamous Romanov family during the Russian Revolution through their kitchen boy, Leonka. In the beginning, the reader finds out the narrator claims to be the Romanov’s kitchen boy, who is now very old, and is recording the story of his personal encounters with the Romanov family for his granddaughter, Katya. We also learn that he is now living in Oak Forest, Illinois and his real name is Mikhail Semyonov, also known as Misha. Misha, the main character, shows the reader the daily activities and interactions of Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra, along with their entire family --- four girls and a young boy. At the end of the novel, the reader finds

A genocide is not always obvious, it can happen slowly without anyone noticing. Niemöller once said, “They came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” In Night the Jews must unite together against the Nazi regime so that they can survive. Elie Wiesel has to stand up against the Nazi tyranny because if he doesn’t then he will face consequences, possibly death. Similarly, the terror group ISIS is carrying out a genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims in Syria. This is the type of genocide that people are letting happen, no one is doing anything against it, everyday minorities in Syria are being slaughtered. In Night, the Jews must unite

Many a times people in power have resorted to violence to solve their problems. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury explains that this happens throughout. The government killed and innocent man when Montag was on the run. This man had caused no harm, all he was doing was taking a nights walk and because this was odd he was marked as a person of interest. The government would assume that he was probably a book owner and had the hound kill him instead of hunting down Montag. The government was not justified in this act of murder because it was not justified in fairness, it was falsely representing the government to society, and it was immoral.

Shukhov reveals how he survives the day in and day out in the gulag. In One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Shukhov is in the gulags for being wrongfully convicted of treason. He must deal with the destruction of humanity, created a ritualization for eating, and most important, he treats time as a valuable possession.

Forster said that, "A work of literature must... tell us more than we already know," which means that literature has to show a something new, give us a new perspective on a subject or topic. Orwell 's "Animal Farm" and Vonnegut 's "Harrison Bergeron" both show a new perspective on equality by creating a dystopian universe.

The Great Purge was from 1936 to 1938. It was a series of mass murders by the secret police. False accusations were made against people, and forged documents were used. People were numbed by fear. They were afraid that their lives were going to be taken from them. During this time, approximately 1,548,366 were detained, 681,962 were shot and over 1,000 executions per day. It is known that over four million people died during the great purge, but historians say this this number could easily be doubled. Survivors of the great purge claimed to have been threatened and tortured. Along with the Great Purge, Stalin also came up with a five-year plan. This was in place from 1928 to 1932. During the five years, the government took control of farms; whoever refused was shot or exiled. Since people had no control over their farms, they had no food. Famine led to many deaths. Stalin wanted a better industry so he was trying to turn the Soviet Union into an industrial superpower. They had agricultural needs, along with needing oil, coal, steel and

Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace. This is exactly what he does with the character of Raskolnikov, while in the process indicating that Crime and Punishment is not one of a crime, but one of a discovery of the motive behind

Power. It is the world’s most dangerous asset anyone can hold on to. It can be used for prosperity or for a complete destruction depending on the person. As the famous Lord Acton 's quote says, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Animal Farm stands for the best example that can display this matter in a clearer and funnier version. It portrays the 1917 Russian Revolution atmosphere with the replacement of Russia into Animal Farm. The characters also did not fail to resemble the real people involved in the revolution. Power leads to greed, used to take advantage and manipulate.

Joseph Stalin shows a harsh example of religious persecution during his reign in power. It can be shown through the history of the laws, Atheist propaganda, and it’s ever so lasting effects after his death.

Post WWl, Russia was still not industrialized, suffering economically and politically and in no doubt in need of a leader after Lenin’s death. “His successor, Joseph Stalin, a ruthless dictator, seized power and turned Russia into a totalitarian state where the government controls all aspects of private and public life.” Stalin showed these traits by using methods of enforcement, state control of individuals and state control of society.

In “Notes from the Underground”, a fiction book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Underground Man is not like the traditional main character in most other fiction books. Often books have a tragic hero where he or she either saves the days or unfortunately is killed. But that is not the case for this book, the main character shows characteristics that do not fit along the lines of a tragic hero at all. This paper argues that the Underground Man is most definitely not the tragic hero, but instead an anti-hero.

Power. It is the world’s most dangerous asset anyone can hold on to. It can be used for prosperity or for a complete destruction depending on the person. As the famous Lord Acton 's quote says, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Animal Farm stands for the best example that can display this matter in a clearer and funnier version. It portrays the 1917 Russian Revolution atmosphere with the replacement of Russia into Animal Farm. The characters also did not fail to resemble the real people involved in the revolution. Power leads to greed, used to take advantage and manipulate.