The novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is a story surrounding the life of a man as he lives a day through the harsh camps of the Soviet Gulag. This camp has awful conditions and causes the prisoners to rely on others for basic human needs. Each prisoner is dehumanized and ultimately forced to discover ways to survive and retain their unique personality. This book offers the idea that human resilience knows no bounds and people are able to endure horrific moments in their lives through the themes of time and perseverance. The novel simultaneously acts as a negative representation of communism under Lenin’s rule.
The theme of time is prevalent throughout this book. Time is a precious commodity and stolen from the prisoners of the soviet camps. A majority of the people convicted in the camps are not guilty but have been forced to give up years of their lives with no personal freedom. Following a recount during the evening, the narrator says “After the recount a prisoner became a free man again—for the first time since […] morning (105). Each tiny moment a prisoner can have that authorities don’t control, gives them a feeling of hope and power. This tiny freedom helps prisoners like Ivan retain their sanity. By having a sense of control when going to bed and waking up, they are able to leave the demanding camps for a short period of time.
Constant perseverance through pain is another common theme in this book. Solzhenitsyn shows how humanity can survive grueling experiences. An example of prisoners regaining their humanity is shown through the way that Shukhov eats. “He’d learned to keep his whole mind on the food he was eating” (258). By focusing his attention on his meals, Shukhov is able to survive the camps without having too much of his psyche destroyed. Shukhov’s impressive strength of character is also shown in this quote discussing his personality. ‘eight years in a camp couldn’t change his nature. He worried about anything he could make use of, about every scrap of work he could do–nothing must be wasted without good reason”(88). The tactic of keeping busy through hard work helps Shukhov to persevere through the decrepit conditions in the camp. He uses work as a way to occupy his time and not dwell on his unfortunate situation to facilitate his ability to keep his positive outlook on his life. This spark of humanity in the most dire conditions represents the strength of human morale.
While there are many important themes in this book, a major aspect included in “A Day in the Life”, is its criticism of the communistic rule during the Soviet Union. Despite never being directly stated, this book acts as a negative portrayal of communism under the rule of Lenin. Through the diverse group of people, competition, and unfair advantages, one can observe that Solzhenitsyn is using the life in a Siberian prison camp as an allegory for a realistic description of Soviet Russia. The first jarring similarity between the camps, and communism in the Soviet Union were the analogous types of people. The prisoners in Ivan’s prison camp contain a diverse group that represent ethnic and professional unions that lived together during the Soviet Union in a Russian society. For example, there are real criminals, peasants, officers, gypsies, Estonians, Latvians, religious figures and many others. Another stark similarity between communism and the camps are the competitive actions each prisoner goes through to try to obtain advantages. “We’ve nothing but we always find a way to make something extra” (135). The perfect idea of a communistic state with equal rights for all has never worked and almost always causes people to succumb to corruption. In the camps, this is shown through bribery which causes some prisoners to have unfair advantages. Unlike a majority of the camp who lives strictly off of the crumbs of food given each day, a privileged few find ways through favors and trading to manipulate the system. A final important similarity between life in the prison camp and Stalinist Soviet Russia is through an eye-opening thought that Ivan has towards the final pages of the book. “And whether his life would be any better there than here—who could tell?”(136). By introducing the thought to the reader that life isn’t different outside of the walls of the camp, Solzhenitsyn gives evidence that his book his critiquing the corrupt and inefficient system of communism. Beyond the prison gates, citizens under the rule of Stalin are still suffering from a life term as they are subjected to food shortages, hard labor, corruption, spies, vandalism, and bureaucratic inefficiency. Nobody can escape the Camp system, because the conditions outside are exactly the same.
This book was a lengthy description of one day of a prisoner’s life. Although a simple idea, the author of this book transmuted Ivan’s story through straightforward language and heartbreaking realities that made the novel an interesting read. While delving through the pages I was made aware of the horrifying situations in the Siberian Labor Camp. I was shocked as I flipped through the pages, unable to believe how these human beings were being treated. Despite being a heartbreaking story, Ivan’s positivity throughout his day was refreshing. He kept his mind focused on his work and only wanted to survive. I caught myself reflecting on how lucky I am to have new opportunities each day. Ivan and many other prisoners during this period of time didn’t have the luxury of choosing what to eat in the morning or having a warm pair of clothes. I think Solzhenitsyn did a great job creating a chilling story that harped on the monotone but difficult daily experience the prisoners faced.
When I heard that the book was only discussing one day over one hundred pages, I was worried. I thought the novel would make me fall asleep being bored by details. However, Solzhenitsyn’s style of writing was refreshing in a way by using perspective and time to breathe meaning into an otherwise uneventful story. I think it was definitely courageous to write a book criticizing Stalin’s violations of human rights during the 1960’s and it is an important piece of writing that brings awareness to a horrendous real event in history. This novel helped me discover a totalitarian system that unethically denied the rights of human beings while simultaneously removing their hope and opportunities to return to a normal life.