The second time I read it, I realized a more fundamental aspect of it was the unchangeable nature of liberal deceit, lying, and the horrible tactics of character assassination and choreographed ad hominem attack. This took place in the late Forties, but the liberal blood sport are identical to what we see today.
But it was the third time I read it, when I fully grasped that the most fundamental aspect of the book was the search by a man (who was a devoted communist and atheist) for truth and meaning in life, and in discovering that that was God, forsook his allegiance to Communism, turned against it (became a "witness" to God and a witness against Communism as the first quote below explains).
The amazing thing is, it isn't a novel. It is a true accounting of actual events in the Alger Hiss case, and showed an example of undeniable triumph of truth over an overwhelming orchestration and concentration of lies by liberals.
The book is so full of great quotes, and here are some of the best ones:
"...A man is not primarily a witness against something. That is only incidental to the fact that he is a witness for something..."
"...For in this century, within the next decades, will be decided for generations whether all mankind is to become Communist, whether the whole world is to become free, or whether, in the struggle, civilization as we know it is to be completely destroyed or completely changed..."
"...The Communist vision is the vision of man without God..."
"...I know that I am leaving the winning side for the losing side, but it is better to die on the losing side than to live under Communism..."
"...At issue in the Hiss Case was the question whether this sick society, which we call Western civilization, could in its extremity still cast up a man whose faith in it was so great that he would voluntarily abandon those things which men hold good, including life, to defend it..."
Thank you for taking the time to post such a wonderful essay/review! You really piqued my interest!