the great primitive might behind the dense, low night under which this city of deserted streets was expectantly waiting, full of hope and hatred" (Malraux 59).
Such existential pondering would horrify a Communist ideologue, for such an advocate would see such writing as a danger, an unnecessary obstacle to the advance of Communist propaganda. But such pondering is a crucial part of Malraux's novel. The propagandist would not approve or understand, but Malraux's exploration of the deepest and darkest areas of man's consciousness in the twentieth century give his arguments for Communism a greater strength than they would have had had the author simply drawn characters who were either pro-Communist or anti-Communist.
This is not to say that all of Malraux's arguments are subtle or convincing with respect to Communism. For example, we see Kat
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