The Birth of Stalinism and the Soviet Union
If one wishes to peer into the atrocious effects of an oppressive regime they need look no further than the gulags. The gulags were forced-labor camps that existed within the Soviet Union during the reign of the oppressive dictator Joseph Stalin. The book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes the single day of an average prisoner in the camp named Ivan Denisovich. In order to understand the society and conditions within the gulag one must first know how and why it came to be. For what reason did Russia fall under such an iron-fisted regime in the first place? How did the conditions and decrees of this regime influence the mentality of the prisoners in the gulag? To answer these questions we must discuss what led to the …show more content…
Communism and the incompetence of leadership in the Russian government lead to a bloody revolution which resulted in the birth of the Soviet Union itself. Due to Stalin’s ambition paranoia, many people were either killed or forced to work in the gulags. The actions of this regime, such as the persecution of religion, influenced the way people chose to live in the gulags. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich shows that the resolve of people like Ivan and Alyoshka strengthens through their faith in God. Whereas many people in the story live day to day simply trying to get meals and survive Ivan and Alyoshka are able to live fulfilling lives by abandoning their desires for hedonistic pleasures and surrendering themselves to their spiritual desires. Understanding the historical context of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich allows the reader to fully understand how these characters find themselves in such a place, and demonstrates that by having faith in God, Ivan was able to find fulfillment in even the most depressing of
If one wishes to peer into the atrocious effects of an oppressive regime they need look no further than the gulags. The gulags were forced-labor camps that existed within the Soviet Union during the reign of the oppressive dictator Joseph Stalin. The book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes the single day of an average prisoner in the camp named Ivan Denisovich. In order to understand the society and conditions within the gulag one must first know how and why it came to be. For what reason did Russia fall under such an iron-fisted regime in the first place? How did the conditions and decrees of this regime influence the mentality of the prisoners in the gulag? To answer these questions we must discuss what led to the …show more content…
Communism and the incompetence of leadership in the Russian government lead to a bloody revolution which resulted in the birth of the Soviet Union itself. Due to Stalin’s ambition paranoia, many people were either killed or forced to work in the gulags. The actions of this regime, such as the persecution of religion, influenced the way people chose to live in the gulags. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich shows that the resolve of people like Ivan and Alyoshka strengthens through their faith in God. Whereas many people in the story live day to day simply trying to get meals and survive Ivan and Alyoshka are able to live fulfilling lives by abandoning their desires for hedonistic pleasures and surrendering themselves to their spiritual desires. Understanding the historical context of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich allows the reader to fully understand how these characters find themselves in such a place, and demonstrates that by having faith in God, Ivan was able to find fulfillment in even the most depressing of