A review of “Darkness at Noon” by Arthur Koestler illustrating the issue of forced confessions.
This paper discusses the Soviet phenomenon of forcing prisoners to confess, staging legal trials and finally executing the prisoner, regardless of his confession. Arthur Koestler’s book, Darkness at Noon is examined, illustrating the insights provided by the author, into the logic of forcing confessions. The paper presents the scenario of how the state gains the confessions and uses them to undermine the cause of the dissidents.
One aspect of confessions is to implicate a person in a plot against the state. For example, the authorities are able to get a prisoner to use his confession against Rubashov. Ivanov explains to Rubashov, I told you. We have proofs. To be more exact: confessions. To be still more exact: the confession of the man who was actually to commit the attempt [to kill No. 1] on your instigation (90). Later the reader finds out that the confessor is the son of an acquaintance of Rubashov. The confessor has been tortured over time until he will say whatever the authorities want him to say. The goal is to break down one person so they will supply information about another. Elements of truth in the information cause the accused to question there own memory of the setting. These doubts weaken the accused’s own recollection of what really happened.