A great poet who wrote about how he felt, Pasternak was awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature. Even though the award was given for his poetry, it was known that the prize was mainly for "Doctor Zhivago". The Soviet Union saw this Nobel Prize as a personal attack against their government itself. Pasternak was said to be a traitor by their leaders, so he refused to accept the Prize. The public now thought Pasternak was a Cold War symbol of rebellion against Soviet communism.