Shukhov's One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

Completely unremarkable days are the kind that will add up to years in one’s life, and in Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Shukhov recounts a single unremarkable day of his ten year sentence in a Soviet gulag camp. During his day, Shukhov starves the reader by immersing them in the famine of the camp, establishing food as a basic necessity for survival. Along with the camp’s famine, Shukhov invites the reader to immerse themselves in the bitter coldness of northern Russia; thoroughly protesting its presence repeatedly. Lastly, Shukhov recurrently elucidates to the criticalness of camaraderie with his gang 124, for even if one lets them down, they all will be punished. Therefore, through a comprehensive structure enriched …show more content…
Shukhov states that “the mist in the frosty air took your breath away...the [prisoners] were chilled not so much by the frost as by the thought that they would be outside all day” (Solzhenitsyn 9). The idiom employed in the first line sets the tone for the scene, as the reader envisages the overwhelming and shocking coldness; forcing the prisoners’ breath away. The idiom also constructs the cold as a symbol of vulnerability, for Shukhov omnisciently describes how it takes all prisoners’ breath away; no matter how resilient they are. He then describes how the cold itself is not the cause of the prisoners’ agony, but rather the sheer thought of it, for they recognize that there is no hope of escaping it. Communally, these lines expound the terror of the cold, for it shows no discrimination; threatening the survival of all prisoners. In hopeless desperation of escaping the cold, Shukhov’s “one dream now was to fall sick for two or three weeks. Not fatally...just sick enough to be put in hospital” (Solzhenitsyn 22). The irony of this statement strikes the reader; imposing a grim tone. His one dream strengthens the fact that there is nothing any prisoner can do to fight the cold; driving him to recognize self-harm as a satisfying mode of relief. Therefore, Shukhov’s one dream combined with the grim tone of these lines solidifies the prisoners’ hopelessness against the …show more content…
From the beginning, the importance of camaraderie is established, for an old camp wolf states that “the man who croaks first [is] the guy who...puts his faith in the sick bay, or squeals to the [political-officer]” (Solzhenitsyn 4). This line successfully constructs the image of the men who die first at the camp; the ones who let down their gangs. Communally, the anti-camaraderie actions combined with the macabre tone created by their deathly consequences successfully expounds its importance, exposing how prisoners lacking camaraderie die first. Furthermore, camaraderie is not only important for an individual's survival, but also an entire gang’s. Shukhov complains that “either everybody gets a bonus or else they all die together. Am I supposed to starve because a louse...won’t work?” (Solzhenitsyn 61). This line invokes a ghastly tone upon the reader, for when one person lets down their gang, they all die together; ensuring the reader recognizes their fear. Furthermore, Shukhov cleverly questions the reader, provoking them to stop and ponder on the question; allowing them to conceptualize, first-hand, this threat toward survival. More important than the members of your gang is your squad leader, “because he’s the one who feeds them”. Shukhov explains that “a good one can give you a new lease on life, a bad one can land you