I would like to start this final work with the quote of George Washington where he claims that if freedom of speech is taken away from us, then dumb and silent we may be at the head of the column, like sheep to the slaughter. As the title of the work and the initial words in the introduction say, in this written work I will take notice of the issue of freedom of speech in the novel The Joke and generally about this problem which is nowadays found in all modern life spheres. Namely, we will find out how did the situation in the former Czech Republic reflected at the writer himself and his work, and why he wrote his first novel. In accordance with the subject World Literature of the Western Circle, we will see how this novel influenced the literature and a man who had personally experienced the cruelty of the communist regime. In this paper work I will try to explain what did lead to the problem of freedom of speech and the which were the reasons that led to communism. We'll see how society in that time treated people who have decided to reach out and be different. We will ask ourselves why did the society at the time when the novel was written did not stand diversity and the resentment of ordinary students. In this paper work, I asked myself the question what is Ludvik Jahn's culpability and I will try to give an answer and at the same time express my own opinion. I will explain all these answers, referring mostly to the paper work and give examples that are current these days. In fact, freedom of opinion, attitudes and speech is one of the most basic rights of every person. This law gives people the opportunity to express their opinion without fear of ending up as Ludvik. Unfortunately, the truth is that someone will always interfere with what we think and say so we have to be careful in imposing our thoughts.