One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich Character Analysis
Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) is a novel
centering on forty-year old Soviet political prisoner Ivan Denisovich Shukov’s experiences
during a single day in a fictional Soviet labor camp in 1951. Before entering the labor camp
eight years earlier, Shukov was a poor stone mason, with a wife and two daughters who he left
behind when he entered military service in 1941 after the Germany army invaded the Soviet
Union. During fighting, the Germans captured him, but he later escaped and returned to the
Soviet army. Soviet officials then accused him of high treason, saying he deliberately joined the
German cause and then returned to the Soviet army as a spy. Although innocent of the charges,
Soviet …show more content…
Shukhov kept these rules to live by with him throughout all of his
eight years to come, as these were the only ways to stay alive. It was obvious the men who tried
to cheat the system and had no self-dignity were the first ones to die. No matter the situation
Shukhov acted dignified. Many examples of this character trait were shown throughout his day,
for example, “...he removed his hat from his clean-shaven head, however cold it might be, he
could never bring himself to eat with his hat on...” (Solzhenitsyn 14). This was a display of
how Shukhov maintained his heritage’s traditions and culture, therefore maintaining his self- dignity. Another example of Shukhov’s dignity occurred when he saw one prisoner staring
another’s cigarette; “Every nerve in his body was taut, all his longing was concentrated in that
cigarette butt–which meant more to him now, it seemed, than freedom itself–but he would never
lower himself like that Fetyukov, he would never look at a man’s mouth.” (Solzhenitsyn 162).
Shukhov stops himself from looking at Tsezar cigarette because in his mind doing that would
centering on forty-year old Soviet political prisoner Ivan Denisovich Shukov’s experiences
during a single day in a fictional Soviet labor camp in 1951. Before entering the labor camp
eight years earlier, Shukov was a poor stone mason, with a wife and two daughters who he left
behind when he entered military service in 1941 after the Germany army invaded the Soviet
Union. During fighting, the Germans captured him, but he later escaped and returned to the
Soviet army. Soviet officials then accused him of high treason, saying he deliberately joined the
German cause and then returned to the Soviet army as a spy. Although innocent of the charges,
Soviet …show more content…
Shukhov kept these rules to live by with him throughout all of his
eight years to come, as these were the only ways to stay alive. It was obvious the men who tried
to cheat the system and had no self-dignity were the first ones to die. No matter the situation
Shukhov acted dignified. Many examples of this character trait were shown throughout his day,
for example, “...he removed his hat from his clean-shaven head, however cold it might be, he
could never bring himself to eat with his hat on...” (Solzhenitsyn 14). This was a display of
how Shukhov maintained his heritage’s traditions and culture, therefore maintaining his self- dignity. Another example of Shukhov’s dignity occurred when he saw one prisoner staring
another’s cigarette; “Every nerve in his body was taut, all his longing was concentrated in that
cigarette butt–which meant more to him now, it seemed, than freedom itself–but he would never
lower himself like that Fetyukov, he would never look at a man’s mouth.” (Solzhenitsyn 162).
Shukhov stops himself from looking at Tsezar cigarette because in his mind doing that would