The Conflict Between Individual And State And The Grammatical Fiction :: essays research papers

The Conflict Between the Individual and the State and the Grammatical Fiction in Darkness At Noon "The Party denied the free will of an individual-and at the same time exacted his willing self-sacrifice." The obvious contradiction of the above definition of the Communist party is depicts the conflict between the individual and the State in Arthur Koestlers novel Darkness at Noon. Koestlers protagonist Nicolas Salamanovich Rubashov, dear(p) communist and former leader of the Communist party, falls victim to his suffer system during the time of the Moscow trials. Accused and impris one and only(a)d for crimes he did non commit, Rubashov is forced to choose between the ideology he has faithfully followed for the aside forty years of his life, or a new found backbone of self, which he calls the "grammatical fiction".During the beginning of Rubashovs solitary incarceration, he begins to doubt the infallibility of the Communist regime, and for a time, views himself in dependent from the Party. Rubashovs pulling out from Communism is evident in his conversation with the examining magistrate, Ivanov, during his introductory hearing. Rubashov addresses Ivanovs incarnate viewpoint with the developing views of his own"Your argument is somewhat anachronistic," said Rubashov. "As you quite rightly remarked, we were accustomed always to use the plural we and to invalidate as far as possible the first person singular. I have rather lost(p) the habit of this form of speech you start out to it. But who is this we in whose name you speak to-day? It needs re-defining. That is the point."Apart from the Party, Rubashov no longer functions as part of the Communist unit, but rather as an individual. Within communist doctrine the individual is only a arrange of a larger system, and for the true communist the pronoun I is not fifty-fifty part of his or her vocabulary. Rather, the personal I is replaced by we, which represents the Party. The significance of Rubashovs statement is that even his speech patterns, a physical manifestation of ones subconscious, display his self-detachment from the Communist Party in that he has lost his ability to associate with the communist We. Over and over Rubashov is tormented by the idea "I shall pay", an unrest due to his uncertainty nearly the foundation of Communism he has placed himself on. Shortly after his first hearing he writes in his diary "The fact is I no longer believe in my infallibility. That is why I am lost.