Kallocain - Karin Boye

Art. no. 216584015 24 Apr 2025

Kallocain (1940) is a dystopian novel by Karin Boye, depicting a totalitarian society where the individual is constantly monitored and controlled. The novel examines the impact of power on human freedom and psyche, and sheds light on the deepest existential questions of faith, free will and morality.

In Kallocain, the reader is introduced to Leo Kall, a chemist who invents a drug that forces people to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings. The drug, called Kallocain, is used by the totalitarian state as a tool to eliminate all forms of privacy and insecurity. The novel follows Kall's own inner conflicts as he discovers the consequences of his creation, while being forced to confront the oppressive system he has become part of. Boye's novel is a work that questions the freedom of the individual in a world where collective survival requires the absolute control of human thoughts and emotions. Callocaine is one of Boye's most famous and significant works and continues to be an important commentary on issues of freedom, privacy and totalitarianism.