Chapter 3 The Outrage and the Hope of the World Summary and Analysis

Why do people become Communists? "Each time I wince, not at the personal question, but at the failure to grasp the fact that a man does not, as a rule, become a Communist because he is attracted to Communism, but because he is driven to despair by the crisis of history through which the world is passing" (Chapter 3, pg. 191). Chambers' answer to this question is that intellectuals are drawn to Communism because of two issues: war and economic crisis. They see no other way of stopping the crises of history. Communism gives them a faith and vision when confronted with the crisis of history. Crises of history are things like the rise of Nazism, the Spanish Civil War and the Great Depression.

Chambers says he...