Little Loewy Character Analysis in Darkness at Noon

The local leader of the dockworkers’ section of the Party at a port in Belgium, Little Loewy is yet another former Party member that Rubashov sacrifices to the cause, though this time in a more indirect fashion. Little Loewy was born in Germany but he faced imprisonment or execution as a result of his involvement with the Party. While the Party promised to help him escape, he was ultimately left on his own, arrested and imprisoned various times, and handed back and forth between the authorities of Belgium and France. Little Loewy is a fervent believer in Communism, and yet he is also principled: he cannot bring himself to accept the Party’s betrayal of its own boycott of enemy countries, which he and the other dockworkers learn of as a result of their job unloading cargo. After expressing his opinions about the wrong-headedness of this new policy, Little Loewy hangs himself, another member of the old guard who is unable to adapt to the new expectations and compromises made by the Party.

Little Loewy Character Timeline in Darkness at Noon

The timeline below shows where the character Little Loewy appears in Darkness at Noon. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Truth, Confession, and Performance Theme Icon

Rubashov thinks of another person who died on his watch— Little Loewy in the old Belgian port, hunchbacked, smoking a pipe. It was two years after the... (full context)

Logical Reasoning and Bureaucracy Theme Icon

...noticed he was eager to leave, but had sent him to Belgium, where he met Little Loewy , the local leader of the dockworkers’ Party section. Rubashov took a liking to him,... (full context)

The Individual, or the “Grammatical Fiction, vs. the Collective Theme Icon

Later, alone, Little Loewy had told Rubashov about his life, how he was born in southern Germany before the... (full context)

Little Loewy managed to cross the border, but he was arrested in France. The Party there, unaware... (full context)

Rubashov asked why Little Loewy was telling him this; he said it’s instructive—the Party is growing more fossilized. Rubashov thought... (full context)

Rubashov wished he could believe that all would end well, but he knew why Little Loewy was sent to Belgium. He looked at him oddly, then felt ill and stood to... (full context)

...able to sell petrol. Paul and the other hands nodded, not understanding the practical implications: Little Loewy exchanged a quick glance with another man. (full context)

Change and the Laws of History Theme Icon

...its own policy for its own benefit, while expecting the dockworkers to fall into line. Little Loewy , pale, salutes Rubashov and says quietly that this is also his opinion. He asks... (full context)

Rubashov shivers, unable to sleep, thinking of Little Loewy asking at the meeting who else would wish to speak. There were many others who... (full context)

...Rubashov. Rubashov thinks back to the smell of the docks, and to the image of Little Loewy hanging and turning from an attic beam. Ivanov continues that six months after beginning to... (full context)

...loyalty and acquiesced to Arlova’s fate. Rubashov does know her fate, as well as Richard’s, Little Loewy ’s, and his own. He wonders what the point of all this is. Flatly, he... (full context)

...as sincere, or as little sincere, with him as Rubashov himself was towards Richard or Little Loewy . (full context)

Meanwhile, Rubashov’s “first-person singular” remains silent, composed of disconnected parts: the hands of the Pietà, Little Loewy ’s cats, something Arlova had once said, and so on. He dubs this half of... (full context)