Witness: Cold War Classics

Why do you think the Foreword takes the form of a letter to Whittaker Chambers’s children? What narrative purpose is served by having that letter be so pessimistically gloomy in tone?

Chambers offers reasons both for joining and leaving the Communist Party. Do you see any evidence in Witness that supplements or even contradicts his stated reasons? Look in particular at his childhood and family life.

Chambers insists that his conflict with Alger Hiss was purely ideological. Based on your reading of the text, does this seem to be accurate? In other words, does their conflict take on a personal element at any point? Does it matter whether conflicts such as the one Hiss and Chambers experience contain a personal element? If so, why? If not, why not?