One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Cleanup-date One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Russian: Один день Ивана Денисовича) is a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, originally published in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir.

Ivan Denisovich is set in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s. The novel describes a single day for Ivan Denisovich, whose nickname is "Shukhov".

At least four English translations have been made. Of those, the 1963 Signet translation by Ralph Parker was the first to be released and remains the most common, followed by the 1963 Bantam (Random House) translation by Ronald Hingley and Max Hayward. The 1970 translation by Gillon Aitken was released as a movie tie-in. The fourth translation, the only one authorized by Solzhenitsyn, was done in 1991 by H.T. Willetts, and is generally considered to be the best. Some names differ among the translations; those below are from the Bantam translation.

A 1970 movie based on the book starred British actor Tom Courtenay in the title role.

1 Synopsis
2 Characters
3 Bibliography
4 External links

[edit]

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov has been sentenced to a camp in the Soviet gulag system, accused of becoming a spy after being captured by the Germans as a prisoner of war in World War II. He is innocent, but is nonetheless punished by the government for being a spy. His sentence is for ten years, but the book indicates that most people never leave the camps. The final paragraph suggests that Shukhov serves exactly ten years -- no more and no less -- but this is not completely clear.

The day begins with Shukhov waking up sick. For waking late, he is sent to the guardhouse and forced to clean it -- an unfair punishment, but minor compared to others mentioned in the book. When Shukhov is finally able to leave the guardhouse, he goes to the dispensary to report his illness. Since it is late in the morning by now, the doctor is unable to exempt any more workers and Shukhov must work regardless.

The rest of the day mainly speaks of Shukhov's squad (the 104th, which has 23 members), their allegiance to the squad leader, and the work that the prisoners do. Solzhenitsyn also tells of methods used for survival; the whole camp lives by the "law of the jungle", a survival of the fittest type of attitude. Shukhov is one of the hardest workers in the squad and is generally well-respected. Rations at the camp are small, but for Shukhov they are the only thing to live for, and he conserves the food that he receives.

At the end of the day, Shukhov is able to provide a few special services for Tsezar (Caesar), an intellectual who is able to get out of manual labor and do office work instead. Tsezar is most notable, however, for receiving packages full of food from his family. Shukhov is able to get a considerable share of Tsezar's packages by standing in lines for him. Shukhov's day ends up being productive, even happy: "Shukhov went to sleep fully content. He'd had many strokes of luck that day." (139).

Those in the camps found everyday life a challenge. The rules around camp are that if the thermometer reaches -42 degrees, then the workers didn't have to work, anything above that was fine though. The reader is continually shocked at the harshness of the cold worsened by inadequate bedding and clothing. The boots zeks (prisoners) were assigned rarely fit, thin mittens easily ripped, and their coats were of very poor quality. The prisoners were assigned numbers for easy identification and in an effort to dehumanize them. The prisoners were then split into troops to complete their duty. Ivan Denisovich's prisoner number was S-854 and he belonged to the 104th Work Squad. Each day the squad leader would receive their assignment of the day; the squad would then be fed according to how they performed. In this way, prisoners of a squad were forced to work together and pressure each other to get work done. If a certain prisoner was slacking, the whole squad would be punished. Despite this, there exists a surprising loyalty between the work gang members, with Shukov teaming up with other prisoners to steal felt and extra bowls of soup; even the squad leader defies the authorities by tar papering over the windows at their work site. Indeed, only through such solidarity can the prisoners do anything more than survive day-to-day, and even then barely more. Happiness in this novel can be found despite the oppressive environment. Shukov dedicates himself entirely to every action, taking pleasure in each act he commits. In this manner he finds a sort of happiness, which stems from living every aspect of his life to the fullest and ignoring the more drearly overall situation. Another man, Alyoshka, takes his pleasure from God. He said he'd actually rather be in the camps where he can read the Bible and pray than outside the camps where he would not be free to worship as he pleased.

The author Alexander Solzhenitsyn had firsthand experience in the Soviet prison system. He was inprisoned in the gulag from 1945 to 1953, allegedly for insulting Stalin by calling him "Old Whiskers" in a letter to one of his friends. Solzhenitsyn set up the character Shukhov to resemble his experience so he could accurately portray with experience what it was like to live in those camps. This novel personifies the harshness Stalin brought to the Soviet Union, but also the fact that, in spite of the terrible conditions, meager rations, and hard work, the prisoners found enjoyment in every aspect of their lives, and managed to live in a surprisingly normal way.

[edit]

Characters

Alyosha (Alyoshka), a Baptist, who attempts to convert others, especially Shukhov, to Christianity. He believes that being imprisoned is a good thing, since it allows him to reflect more on God and more spiritual matters. Alyosha is, amazingly, able to hide a Bible in the barracks. Shukhov responds to Alyosha's numerous attempts at converting him by saying that he believes in God but not heaven or hell, nor in spending much time on the issue.

Gopchik, a young member of the squad who works hard and who Shukhov has fatherly feelings for. Shukhov believes Gopchik has the knowledge and adjustment skills to advance far at the camp.

Tiurin (Tyurin), the squad leader for the 104th, who has been in the camp for 19 years. Tiurin likes Shukhov and gives him some of the better jobs. This is only part of the hierarchy: Tiurin must argue for better jobs and wages from the camp officers in order to please the squad, who then must work hard in order to please the camp officers and get larger rations.

Fetiukov (Fetyukov), a member of the squad who has thrown away all of his dignity in the camps, and is particularly seen as a lowlife by Shukhov and the other camp members. One of the situations involved Fetiukov taking cigarette butts out of a spittoon to unwrap them and extract the used tobacco, which was precious at the time.

[edit]