READING
“Alexander solzhenitsyn . one day in the life of ivan denisovich.”
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BY :
Name : Erna Uli Simbolon
NPM : 121204466
Group : G
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
HKBP NOMMENSEN UNIVERSITY
PEMATANGSIANTAR T.A 2013
characters of the doers chapter
I. Performer each Chapter in Novels is
1. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov
2. Alyosha
3. Gopchik
4. Andrey Prokofyevich Tiurin
5. Tzesar Markovich
6. Buinovsky
7. PAVLO
8. The Latvian in Hut 7
9. Character Analysis
10. Senka Klevshin
11. Kildigs
12. Lieutenant Volkovoy
13. Der
14. Shukhov's Wife
15. Nikolai Semyonich Kolya Vdovushkin
16. Stepan Grigorich
17. Limpy
18. The Moldavian
19. Pantleyev
20. Prisoner Kh-123
21. Prisoner Yu-81
22. The Wardens
23. The Old Artist
II. Characters in Alexander solzhenitsyn . one day in the life of ivan denisovich
Ivan Denisovich Shukhov
Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, is a poor and uneducated man. As such, he is an unusual protagonist in Russian literature. He is not an aristocrat, like most of the heroes of nineteenth-century Russian novels. He is also not a brilliant intellectual or impassioned sufferer, like some of nineteenth-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s characters. As a peasant, Shukhov comes from a class not often featured in Russian novels. He may even be illiterate. When he sees the poem Kolya is copying out, for example, he does not recognize the strange way of writing each line directly beneath the preceding one. He is amazed by men such as Tsezar who have lived in Moscow, which to Shukhov is an exotic, faraway land. Nor is he a gifted or sensitive emotional soul: he shows almost no affection for his long-forgotten wife and daughters, no romantic nostalgia for his lost home, and no dreams of a better life elsewhere. Shukhov is an ordinary Russian, as implied by his name. “Ivan” is one of the most common names in the Russian language, like the English “John.” Solzhenitsyn makes this undistinguished man the hero of his novel in order to represent the uneducated peasant mainstream of Soviet society.
Alyosha.
(Alyoshka),is a Baptist. He believes that being imprisoned is an earned thing, since it allows him to reflect more on God and Jesus. Alyosha is, surprisingly, able to hide part of a Bible in the barracks. Shukhov responds to his beliefs by saying that he believes in God but not heaven or hell, nor in spending much time on the issue.
Gopchik
Gopchik, is a young member of the squad who works hard and for whom Shukhov has fatherly feelings, as he reminds Shukhov of his dead son. Gopchik was imprisoned for taking food to Ukrainian rebels. Shukhov believes Gopchik has the knowledge and adjustment skills to advance far at the camp.
Andrey Prokofyevich Tiurin
(Tyurin), is the foreman/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), is 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. He shamelessly scrounges for bits of food and tobacco.
Tzesar Markovich
Tzesar Markovich (Caesar), is an inmate who works in the camp offices and has been given other special privileges, such as being allowed to wear his civilian fur hat, instead of it being given to the Personal Property department. Tzesar is a film director, who was imprisoned before he could finish his first feature film. Some discussions in the novel indicate that he holds formalist views in art, which were probably the reason for his imprisonment. A cultured man, Tzesar discusses film with Buynovsky. His somewhat higher class background assures him food parcels.
Buinovsky
(Buynovsky, "The Captain"), is a former Soviet Naval captain. A relative newcomer to the camp, Buynovsky was imprisoned when an admiral on a British cruiser on which he had served as a naval liaison sent him a gift. In the camp, Buynovsky has not yet learned to be submissive before the warders.
PAVLO
Pavlo, a Ukrainian who serves as deputy foreman/squad leader and assists Tiurin in directing the 104th, especially when Tiurin is absent.
Johann Kilgas, the leading worker of the 104th squad along with Shukhov. Latvian by birth, he speaks Russian like a native, having learned the language in his childhood. Kilgas is popular with his team for making jokes.
Senka, is a member of the 104th who became deaf from intense fighting during World War II, and having escaped and been recaptured three times by the Germans ended up in Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
The Latvian in Hut 7
This guy is the camp's resident tobacco salesman, and
he cuts Shukhov a fair deal for some merchandise at the end of the day, after
they haggle a bit for form's sake. The Latvian and his scene with Shukhov help
to show us how business and trade are conducted in the camp (secretively
mainly). And this character also stands out for being a fair businessman in a
very corrupt environment Latvia di Hut 7
Senka Klevshin
Senka's deafness is a major part of this barrier and of his character. After all he's suffered, Senka definitely seems to think it wise to just quietly do his time in the gulag. No more heroics for him. He's a good worker and is something of a jokester too. So aside from making us feel sorry for him, what's the deal with his deafness? Well, due to his deafness, Senka likely experiences camp life in a radically different way. Here's some thoughts of Shukhov that may help explain it:
the Two Estonians
The two Estonians are like two peas in a pod, and other clichés which indicate they're like twins. We'll refrain from calling them Ashley and Mary Kate though. Actually, the two Estonians are practically like one person. We only learn the name of one of them, when Shukhov addresses "Eino" when asking for a cigarette (516).
The two of them literally do everything together, and they even look alike.
They were both tow-haired, both lanky, both skinny, they both has long noses and big eyes. They clung together as though neither would have air enough to breathe without the other. [...] They shared of their food and slept up top on the same bunk [....] they never stopped talking to each other in their slow, quiet way. (260)
But these two men aren't brothers at all; they met in Gang 104. The two Estonians really stand out for their extremely close relationship. A major theme in this book is competition, and we see a lot of ruthless behavior among the zeks, who all mainly look out for themselves only. The two Estonians work together cooperatively though, which is a very different survival strategy. But their strategy might be just as desperate as that of the zeks who compete on their own against others.
Kildigs
Kildigs is a fellow bricklayer and a fellow skilled laborer, and he works alongside Shukhov throughout the work day. The two men are similar in many ways, but Kildigs has a few traits that definitely set him apart from Shukhov.
First off, Kildigs is a comedian. He's always joking around apparently. More on the "apparently" shortly. Here's what Shukhov has to say about him:
Lieutenant Volkovoy
Volkovoy is downright evil. He goes around whipping people, popping out from behind corners and scaring them, and enforcing stupid rules. Given that this book is set in a prison , you might expect Volkovoy to be one of many.
But he's actually the meanest guard we see by far. Most of the other guards are shown as not taking their jobs all that seriously, or as hating their jobs. The guards are also shown having a hard time controlling all the zeks. Overall, the guards as a group get fairly sympathetic treatment, even from Shukhov himself:
Der
Der has what might be the most fitting name in the whole book. It just sounds like the name of some sort of big, hulking, dumb bully. Or an ogre. He's like Shrek's mean cousin or something.
Actually, Der is a mean overseer, so the ogre comparison isn't too far off. Der has one scene in the book, but it's definitely a doozy. After all, he nearly gets beaten up during it. Der decides to confront Tyurin over the stolen tarred paper in the Power Station. Like Fetyukov, Der is a former rich dude (a ministry employee apparently) who tries to throw his weight around, only to discover that he has pretty limited power :
Shukhov's Wife
Shukhov's wife isn't just a means for demonstrating how cool Shukhov is. She's a character in her own right, even if we hear fairly little about her. The fact that she writes to Shukhov dutifully, twice a year, and has hopes and plans for when he returns home tells us a lot about her. In a lot of ways, she is like Penelope, Odysseus's wife in the Odyssey who waited twenty years for him to return home, remaining faithful the whole time.
Shukhov's wife struggles daily with poverty and can scarcely understand her husband's life, just as he can scarcely understand hers. It's like a huge chasm or an ocean exists between them; and it's no mistake that Shukhov uses a water metaphor to describe his letters home as stones sinking in bottomless pool But even though she can't grasp what he is doing now, she still considers Shukhov a part of her life and still makes plans, however futile, for when he finally makes it home.
Nikolai Semyonich Kolya Vdovushkin
He's a wannabe poet. And if he weren't in the prison camp, he likely wouldn't be working as a medical orderly.
Stepan Grigorich
Grigorich also represents the sort of outright mean people who run . Making sick people get up and work is just cruel really
Limpy
Limpy controls who gets access to food and he's super-mean. He's so powerful that he doesn't even have to wear a number on his fancy hat. But the scene we get with Limpy shows that he does have to fight to maintain his position. Once again, there are signs that the balance of power is shifting in the camp and signs that those with power aren't totally invulnerable. When we see Limpy, he's in the process of yelling at zeks to move back and beating people back from the door of the mess hall that evening, which symbolizes the ongoing power struggles between zeks and the rulers
The Moldavian
The Moldavian is the unfortunate zek who fell asleep at the worksite, held up hundreds of people, got beat up for his tardiness, and then got tossed into the hole as punishment. He's had one bad day. But other than being pathetic, the Moldavian also shows us just how violent and dangerous the camps can be. The only reason he wasn't beaten further was because a guard intervened. And the Moldavian also kicked off a lot of thoughts in Shukhov about how precious time is to the prisoners,
Pantleyev
Pantleyev seems universally hated in Gang 104, and with good reason: he is an informant for the guards and he gets off work in order to rat-out fellow prisoners. Pantleyev has completely sold out and is even lower than Fetyukov in terms of principles. Though he's not featured in the book in person, Pantleyev helps to show how corrupt the camp is and also how dangerous it is: there's always some sort of surveillance going on, even inside of the work gangs themselves.
Prisoner Kh-123
Though we never learn this prisoner's name, he has a very interesting and thematically important conversation with Tsezar about film, of course. Tsezar pretty much has no other conversation topics. In this conversation, the two prisoners discuss film and art under Soviet dictatorship. Tsezar argues that a director named Eisenstein is a genius while Kh-123 angrily counters that he sold out to the government and is just spouting off bad political ideas. This is one of the very few times that art and culture is addressed in the novel; the other notable example is Vdovushkin's poetry, which he has to write in secret. The Soviet government definitely suppresses people's freedom of expression. And the key issues touched upon by Tsezar and his debating partner, Kh-123 is the moral dilemma of whether or not a person should compromise with the government, be it in art or life itself.
Prisoner Yu-81
Yu-81 is the number of a legendary prisoner that Shukhov observes over dinner. In many ways, Yu-81 is a picture of Shukhov's possible future, if he stays in the camp. Unlike most of the prisoners, Yu-81 has survived for years with dignity and pride. He refuses to be degraded into an animal-like existence, as we see in his one and only scene:
The Wardens
These are men with power, and they often abuse it. But they are also prisoners as well, so most of them are corrupt to some degree, willing to bend the rules if it suits them.
The Old Artist
The Old Artist is pretty much what his name says, so no false advertising there. He appears only briefly at the beginning of the book, and he is the man who paints a new number on Shukhov's jerkin in the morning.
III .One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich One Day in the Lif e of Ivan Denisovich (time, place, manner, situation )
Actually, the guy making noise is the warden – Shukhov is in jail.
It's dark and freezing outside and Shukhov feels awful.
He usually gets up early and does stuff on the side to earn some cash, like sewing things for people.
Shukhov's thoughts wander and he remembers his first foreman, Kuyzomin, who gave him some survival tips in 1943.
We get the feeling that Shukhov has been in jail for a long time.
Historical Context Lesson time! OK, jail isn't technically the right term to use here. See, Shukhov is actually in a forced labor camp, known as a gulag. There were hundreds of gulags in the Soviet Union back in the day. Under the rule of Joseph Stalin, millions of people were tossed into them and forced to work in terrible conditions building things like roads and canals and whatnot. Most of the people were in the gulags for no good reason too. Under Stalin's rule, you could be arrested for just about anything – religious beliefs, political beliefs, having contact with foreigners, even if it was only a day. More on that later though. Back to the story.
OK, so Shukhov is feeling sick and doesn't get out of bed.
He sleeps in a four-man bunk in a hut with hundreds of other prisoners crammed in like sardines on similar bunks.
Shukhov is in Gang 104.
It's an important day because there's a chance Gang 104 is going to get the Worst Work Assignment Ever. They may be sent out to a new building site, which means they'll have to dig holes in a frozen field all day.
Luckily, Shukhov's foreman has gone to try to get his gang a better assignment.
The warder on duty in the hut is nicknamed "Ivan-and-a-half," as he is small.
Pint-sized Ivan is a pushover apparently, so Shukhov decides he's good chilling in his bunk awhile longer.
Meanwhile, his bunk neighbors, Alyoshka and Buynovsky, are doing their morning thing.
Alyoshka is a devout Baptist and he is saying his morning prayers.
Buynovsky is an ex-Captain in the navy and refers to everyone as "shipmates." Ahoy.
Buynovsky announces cheerfully that it's 30 below zero outside. Yikes!
Shukhov says screw it, and decides to try to take a sick day.
But then another warder pops up and yanks back Shukhov's blanket. Is it Shukhov's mom?
No, it's a Tartar.
Explanation time: A Tartar has nothing to do with dental care or sauce for shrimp. Tartar here refers to an ethnic group that lives in Russia. The name Tartar was used to refer to people of Mongolian or Turkish descent who lived in various parts of Russia.
Anyway, back to the story. This Tartar is mean and tells Shukhov that he's going to be punished for "sleeping" late.
Warden Tartar is not a fan of the snooze alarm apparently.
He calls Shukhov by his prison number, Scha-854. All prisoners wear numbers on their clothes.
FYI: Scha is a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet, so you don't need to go consult Sesame Street to review your ABCs.
Warden Tartar tells Shukhov he's getting three days in the hole.
Another Historical Content Lesson! The hole refers to a punishment cell where people are put in solitary confinement. If you've ever seen a prison movie (along the lines of The Shawshank Redemption, not Jailhouse Rock) you may have heard people refer to "solitary." Solitary is basically "the hole." Also, fun movie fact: The Great Escape, a cool movie about a bunch of famous classic movie stars, er, Americans and Brits, in a Nazi Prisoner of War camp in WWII, features a smart-alecky character (played by the super cool Steve McQueen) who gets thrown in "the hole" all the time. In that movie, the hole is more dull than anything else, but in this book the hole is deadly since you can freeze to death in there.
Warden Tartar leads Shukhov outside for his punishment and it is freezing.
We learn that the prisoners ("zeks"), can get off work if it is 41 degrees below zero. Holy cow, that's cold.
FYI: "zek" is camp slang for prisoner and it comes from the Russian word for "inmate."
We also learn that the gulag/jail is called the "camp," which is really false advertising. Might we suggest a name change to "Seventh Circle of Hell"?
But then the Tartar marches Shukhov to the Wardens' Clubhouse, otherwise known as HQ, or Head Quarters. It's the camp office basically.
Mistaking Shukhov for Cinderella, the Tartar tells Shukhov to clean the floor as punishment, and no talking mice are allowed to help him.
Shukhov explains to us that the wardens will often just make prisoners do jobs that the wardens themselves don't want to do as punishment. So, no hole time for Shukhov.
First, Shukhov goes outside to fill up a bucket of water for the floor washing. He sees a group of foremen trying to figure out how cold it is. It's freaking cold, is their conclusion, but they won't get off work for it.
One of the foremen is an ex-Hero of the Soviet Union, which is the equivalent of some sort of Medal of Honor or Presidential Citation. They had a really rapid turnover rate of "heroes" in Stalinist Russia, since all the current "heroes" kept getting tossed in jail.
After going back inside, Shukhov quickly cleans the floor and the wardens in the office yell at him and curse him out the whole time.
Shukhov is careful not to get his boots wet, since he'd probably end up with ice blocks on his feet if he did. We learn that Shukhov had a sweet pair of shoes that he had to trade in for winter boots and he's very sad about it still.
The wardens discuss warden business and yell at Shukhov till he finishes.
We learn that Shukhov hasn't seen his wife since 1941. We also learn that, like Cindy Brady, Shukhov has a lisp. Unlike Cindy Brady, this isn't due to braces but to a bout with scurvy. Scurvy is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency and it causes bleeding of the gums and other nasty things. Healthcare in the gulags clearly sucks.
Shukhov mops quickly and then runs back outside.
He decides to go to sickbay to see if he can get off work today.
But first he rushes over to the Mess Hall for some food.
It's total chaos in the Mess Hall – people are fighting over trays and shoving each other and trying to find a spot to sit.
Fetyukov is watching Shukhov's breakfast for him. Fetyukov is at the low end of the totem pole in Gang 104.
On the menu this morning is some sort of gross soup/gruel concoction with boiled fish in it.
We learn that Shukhov removes his cap before eating even though it's cold. He refuses to give up his good manners entirely, even in the Camp Gulag-awaka (sponsored by Fozzie Bear, "waka waka").
Shukhov has a spoon that he made himself at another labor camp back in 1944.
We get a run down of the type of food served in Camp Gulag. In short: it sucks.
Food time is special though, since prisoners are starving and they get very little time to themselves outside of meals and sleeping.
We learn that Shukhov is in a "special" camp. That sounds dangerous.
Historical Context Lesson! OK, a "special" camp in Soviet Union lingo means a camp set up for political prisoners. The people in special camps, which are all hard labor camps set up in the 1940s, are for people convicted of a variety of "political crimes" under the Soviet penal code. These crimes ranged from "treason" to "counterrevolutionary activity" to "sabotage." As we'll see later (spoiler alert!), most of the sentences were total garbage.
Shukhov finishes his delicious breakfast and goes back outside.
He hides behind a building to avoid the Tartar, who is on the prowl again.
The camp has lots of really absurd rules, like prisoners have to take their hats off when they see a warder, and people get punished for stupid little things all the time.
Shukhov remembers he had a deal to buy some tobacco from a Latvian dude in a neighboring hut, but he decides to go to sickbay instead.
Sickbay is clean and quiet inside and it makes Shukhov nervous.
The orderly on duty is a guy named Kolya Vdovushkin. He's totally unsympathetic to Shukhov but takes his temperature anyway.
Apparently, you have to "plan ahead" if you are going to be sick and come into sickbay the night before, since they can only let off two people from work detail on any given day.
Vdovushkin is writing something that looks shifty.
Shukhov sits with a thermometer in his mouth and feels awkward.
The new doctor in camp, Stepan Grigorich is a nut apparently and thinks that the best cure for illness is hard work.
Shukhov thinks this guy is a total jerk.
Vdovushkin has a secret – he's not really a medical orderly at all! He lied to get the job so that he'd have time to work on his poems. Yes, he's an aspiring poet. Hence the shifting writing.
So, basically, a poet with no medical training is performing medical procedures on unsuspecting patients. Yikes.
Shukhov might want to hightail it out of this little shop of horrors hospital.
Turns out, Shukhov has a mild fever, but not enough of one to get him off work, so he has to leave. He's bummed.
Shukhov trudges back to his hut, where everyone is crowded inside. No one wants to line up for work.
Gang 104 is all there, and the deputy foreman, Pavlo, is glad to see Shukhov. He saved his bread ration for him.
Prisoners get 550 grams of bread a day, but their rations are usually short.
Shukhov quickly hides part of his bread ration in his bunk so that he can eat it later.
Alyoshka is reading his Bible, which he hides every day before they march off to work. Wardens search the hut during the day and people steal stuff all the time. Bibles are also not allowed in the camp.
Finally the call comes and Gang 104 has to go outside.
It's freezing and miserable and the sun is only just starting to rise.
Everyone lines up to go past the security checkpoint before marching to the worksite.
Gang 104 has gotten out of the bad assignment, thanks to their good foreman Tyurin.
But the gang is all mad to learn that Panteleyev is out sick. Panteleyev is an informant for the guards and he isn't really sick at all; he's staying behind to rat people out.
Then Shukhov remembers that he needs to get his number patch touched up because the guards punish people for having faded numbers.
He gets in line as an old artist paints over his number for him to make it more visible.
When Shukhov goes back to his gang he spies Tsezar, a former director, smoking a cigarette.
Fetyukov, the gang scavenger, is standing there too, begging for a puff.
Tsezar ignores him and gives his cigarette butt to Shukhov, who gladly smokes it, even though its burning his mouth and getting ashes everywhere.
Shukhov is happy, but then he hears a rumble through the crowd: the guards are making the zeks remove their shirts during at the security checkpoint, which means everyone will be freezing before they even set off on their daily march to the worksite. It's like annoying airport security checks times twenty here.
The reason for the over-zealous searches is the arrival of Lieutenant Volkovoy, the camp disciplinary officer. He's super-mean and used to carry a whip around with him, but he's stopped lately.
Since their boss has shown up, the guards are now going overboard with their searches.
Shukhov thinks about how stupid morning searches are, since no one really bothers to smuggle much out of the camp.
Then Volkovoy, the punk, announces that zeks are only allowed to have two shirts on, and he busts Tsezar and Buynovsky for having on extra clothing.
Buynovsky is furious and yells at Volkovoy for the unfair treatment, and Volkovoy yells back that Buynovsky is getting ten days in the hole starting tonight.
Gang 104 knows how bad this is because they actually built the jailhouse in the camp themselves. It's made of stone and it's bitterly cold inside.
Shukhov is still feeling sick and exhausted as the gangs all set off on their daily forced march.
The camp's exercise regime could use some improvement.
The guards make everyone group off in fives so they can count them. The guards are all about the numbers, cause they'll be punished big time if the numbers don't add up.
Shukhov ties a rag around his face since they'll be marching straight into the wind in a moment.
Buynovsky explains some things about the weather, and we learn he's sort of the know-it-all of the gang.
The escort guards have guns and dogs with them.
One guard yells out the rules of marching to the zeks: no talking, no touching, etc.
They all set off across the snowy, frozen plain.
Usually the zeks talk anyway, but it's too cold to chat today.
While marching, Shukhov's thoughts wander.
He thinks about the letter he'll write home soon. He's allowed to write two letters per year.
We learn that it is now 1951, and Shukhov hasn't been home since 1941, and he's been in prison since 1943.
He fought in World War II.
Shukhov has more to say to the members of his gang now than he does his family. He has a wife who writes him letters, and children as well.
His wife works on something called a "kolkhoz."
Russian Translation Time: A "kolkhoz" is a collective farm, which was a big program under Stalin. Since he was a communist, Stalin gave private property a thumbs down and told everyone to combine all their belongings and to work together on collective farms. And by "told" we mean that he forced people to work on the collective farms, confiscated their property, and shipped people who protested off to gulags. Known as "forced collectivization," the process led to a huge famine and millions of people died on farms and in prison camps throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
So, basically, before the war Shukhov lived a quiet little peasant life in a village. Now his wife works on a collective farm and is very poor.
Shukhov finds all the changes in his village confusing.
His wife wrote him last about a new business that's sprung up – dyeing carpets. Returning soldiers started it up, since they refused to work on the collective farms, which are a big racket basically. You work your butt off, and the government takes nearly everything you produce.
Shukhov's wife hopes he'll take up carpet dyeing when he gets home, and he can go around and sell his carpets too as a traveling salesman.
If Shukhov is looking to bust into the salesman business, we'd advise selling the ShamWow. Seems like more of a money maker.
Shukhov has two years left on his ten year sentence though, so he tries not to get too excited about the future.
Plus, he finds this carpet business somewhat shifty. His wife assures him that any idiot can dye carpets, though, so he'll do fine.
Shukhov does worry about how he'll get along in the outside world after having been in jail for so long. He'll have to develop new habits and routines and skills, and it's pretty daunting.
Plus, life outside of the gulag in Stalinist Russia isn't exactly a cakewalk. In fact, it's really difficult.
Lots of people get extra time slapped onto their sentences for no reason, or are sent into exile from Russia, so Shukhov isn't overly hopeful about his future prospects.
The gang now arrives at the work site.
It's filled with barbed wire gates, broken machinery, half finished buildings, and lots of snow.
Sounds like a postcard.
Alyoshka smiles at the sight of the sun coming up.
Shukhov thinks he's nuts, but notes that all the Baptists are crazy. All the Baptists got twenty-five year sentences in the gulag, just for practicing their religion.
Services aren't allowed in the camp, but the Baptists always whisper to each other all day on Sundays.
Gang 104 has a great foreman, named Tyurin. Shukhov actually knew Tyurin back in his previous camp, Ust-Izhma.
Your foreman matters more than anything else in the camp; a bad one can get you killed.
The zeks halt at the checkpoint of the worksite and the head-count process starts up again.
Finally they all get inside the compound and hustle off to warming sheds – little shacks with stoves in them.
Luxurious.
Tyurin, Pavlo, and Tsezar head off to the offices though. Tsezar is rich and bribed his way into a nice office position, but he helps out the gang with his job.
The rest of Gang 104 goes to an unfinished auto repair shop but Gang 38 is already there, blocking the stove.
Shukhov is careful to ration out his food, and he lets himself have a snack of bread right now.
The rest of the gang chills out.
Two Estonian dudes talk quietly. They met in the camp and became BFFs.
Fetyukov is gathering up cigarette butts for himself.
Buynovsky tells him that's gross. The ex-Captain always barks out orders and things to people like he's still on a ship.
Senka Klevshin pipes up randomly that the Captain shouldn't have yelled at the guards that morning.
Senka is partially deaf and can't really follow what people say.
He was in a Nazi POW camp during WWII, then he ended up in Buchenwald, which was a concentration camp, and then he ended up in a gulag.
OK, so how did Senka go from a POW to gulag zek? Well, under Soviet law in the Stalin era, any contact with foreigners was considered super-shifty and even treasonous. Seriously. Stalin, and the rest of the people running things, were really xenophobic. Xenophobia means a fear and hatred of foreigners. So since Senka had "contact" with foreigners (Germans), even though this contact occurred in a concentration camp, Senka was given a sentence in a gulag.
Historical Context Info: Also, some background on Buchenwald: Buchenwald was a Nazi concentration camp located in Germany. It was a prison for Jews, Poles, Gypsies, POWs, and various other political, religious, and national prisoners. Thousands died there, either by execution or from the terrible living conditions in the camp. Inmates were used as slave labor. The camp was liberated by American troops in 1945. So Senka had "contact" with Americans as well, which made him doubly treasonous under Stalinist law.
Meanwhile, Alyoshka is praying.
Pavlo comes back.
Kildigs, a Latvian, notes that they haven't had a blizzard in a while and wishes they would.
Blizzards are like snow days off from school, except the zeks have to sit in their huts all day with no heat.
Tyurin finally shows back up and the Gang get their assignments for the day.
The Estonians, Senka, and a dude named Gopchik go to carry a mixing trough to the Power Station, Gang 104's spot for the day.
Others go to fetch tools, start a fire, etc.
Shukhov and Kildigs are the most skilled laborers in the gang, so they get a special assignment.
Their task is to find something to block the big open windows in the Power Station so the gang won't freeze while working.
Gopchik comes back to ask Tyurin for some help. Gopchik is only sixteen.
Kildigs and Shukhov get along well and they set off on their super-important mission, while humming the Mission Impossible theme. OK, not really.
Kildigs has a bright idea, and he and Shukhov go to steal some tarred paper to use to cover the windows.
First Shukhov goes to pick up a trowel that he's hidden. He likes it and doesn't want someone else to steal it from him, so he hides it in a new spot daily.
It's a long walk to the tarred paper.
On the way they run into Gang 82 digging holes. The ground is frozen though and it's nearly impossible.
They find the tarred paper and decide to sneak it back by hiding it between them and walking along with it like it's a person.
Why are they worried about sneaking supplies back? Well, there's not enough to go around, so people steal stuff all the time to use for their jobs. The free workers at the site are really stingy with supplies, so the zeks especially have to steal stuff.
What's with the free workers? Well, these people are likely in forced exile. Not everyone who broke a law under Stalin's regime got slapped with a gulag sentence; some just got internal exile to crummy locales like Siberia. These "free" workers get some perks and more food than the zeks do, but they don't have it that much better overall.
So Kildigs and Shukhov make it back to the Power Station with their tarred paper.
Shukhov notes that the Captain is looking pretty rough, but he keeps working.
While the other men go to unload cinder blocks, Pavlo, Shukhov, and Kildigs go upstairs to check out the wall.
They decide that they'll have to station men on the various levels of the building and have them hoist up bricks and mortar to the bricklayers. Sounds fun. And by fun, we mean inefficient and horribly exhausting.
On the way there, Shukhov's thoughts wander to the eating situation in the camp.
It's a totally corrupt racket basically. People in powerful positions, like the cook, get more food and better food than the average zek, and everyone is always fighting over what food they do get and are trying to get more.
It's down and dirty survival of the fittest here.
Inside it's total chaos, as usual.
Once in the chaotic mess hall, our boys from 104 get to work finding trays and getting some food.
Gopchik runs back to bring the rest of the gang once Pavlo secures a spot in line.
Shukhov is excited since today is oatmeal gruel day. We don't recognize that Quaker Oatmeal flavor, perhaps it's new.
The cook starts passing out bowls. The foreman gets an extra portion always. Tyurin always gives his to Pavlo, since he's cool.
But then the cook gets distracted counting bowls, and Shukhov is able to steal two.
Shukhov and the cook get into a shouting match over it, but the cook can't prove that any bowls are gone, so he drops it after a bit.
Gang 104 has shown up, and are announced by the Captain who starts shouting at people to move. He has such great people skills.
Shukhov passes the extra bowls off to the two Estonians in order to ditch the incriminating evidence.
Shukhov is then super-anxious because he wants that extra bowl of delicious gruel, but Pavlo will ultimately decide who gets to eat it since he's the man in charge currently.
Shukhov might need to get in touch with his inner Oliver Twist ("Please, sir, I want some more" and all that).
Shukhov finishes his first bowl of gruel and positions himself strategically near the extra portions.
Pavlo is cool, and passes one to Shukhov. Score!
Fetyukov sulks over this, but he didn't do any fancy bowl stealing, so he doesn't get any.
Pavlo also reminds Shukhov to take Tsezar's bowl to him when he's done eating. Tsezar chills in the office and never comes to the mess hall.
The Captain is now zoning out at the table. He's been looking rough for months now. In fact, he's very new to the camp, only a few months in, and he's not used to prison life yet.
So Pavlo gives the Captain the other extra bowl.
Shukhov then goes to the office to give Tsezar his gruel.
When he gets there he finds Tsezar having a debate about film with another random inmate.
Tyurin took his little brother and dropped him off with some thieves in order to save him from being deported, but not from a life of crime, apparently.
Tyurin concludes his little narrative by saying that he never saw his brother again.
The foreman says it's time to get back to work.
So Shukhov, Kildigs, Senka, and Tyurin go to lay bricks on the wall. Pavlo joins the others in mixing the mortar and hauling up supplies.
And they all get to work.
Shukhov is very skilled and is a bit of a perfectionist, and pretty soon he's totally engrossed in his work.
Work is going well and quickly.
The men hauling supplies are exhausted but they keep going.
But then Buynovsky yells that he refuses to work with Fetyukov anymore, since he's a lazy bum.
The foreman makes Fetyukov hand blocks upstairs and puts Alyoshka with Buynovsky on the wheelbarrow.
Then Der, the overseer of building, comes up. He's a former government official from Moscow, so he thinks he's hot stuff.
Der tries to give Tyurin crap about stealing the tarred paper, but Tyurin and his wingman Pavlo stare him down and Der gets scared.
Guess the murder spree has unnerved him.
He babbles like a fool and then slinks away.
The gang gets back to work after the interruption.
Gopchik eventually notices that Gang 82 is handing their tools in and Tyurin tells him to mind his own business. He also calls him "small-fry," which is awesome.
Suddenly the hammer clangs, signaling the end of the work day.
The gang just made a new batch of mortar, which is bad timing.
So the bricklayers frantically try to use it up and lay bricks really fast.
Tyurin finally says screw it and to just throw the extra mortar in a hole and shovel some snow over it to hide it.
Everyone starts packing it in, and the bricklayers start finishing up.
But then Shukhov offers to stay later and let him finish up his wall section. Shukhov has a strong work ethic and takes pride in whatever work he does.
Senka stays with him to finish.
They are frantic and Senka finally yells at him that they have to leave.
Shukhov takes time to quickly hide his trowel and the two men run outside.
Outside, hundreds of other zeks are waiting on them and start yelling at them. It's scary.
But then Senka yells back, which shuts everyone up since they are shocked to hear from him.
Someone yells out that he thought Senka was deaf and they just wanted to see if he could hear them or not, and everyone laughs.
Everyone groups up for yet another head count.
When they arrive the guards make some of the men drop the firewood that they've gathered for the evening just for show – yet another dumb camp rule that isn't fully enforced.
It's just dumb luck if you can get through with a bundle of wood or not.
Time for evening body searches.
Shukhov offers to go look to see if Tsezar has a package, hoping he can get a small cut from it if Tsezar has one. Tsezar says, whatever.
But then Shukhov remembers that he still has a piece of steel on him from earlier.
This is super bad.
He doesn't want to drop it, since it's useful, but going through the search point with it is highly risky.
He decides to go for it, and he hides it among his mittens, which he bunches in one hand.
He picks out an older guard to do his search, since he figures the old guard is jaded and doesn't do his job super-well anymore.
After some tense moments, Shukhov gets through.
He's really relieved.
Meanwhile the sleepy Moldavian is being led off to the hole.
Finally, Shukhov gets inside the camp and trots off to the camp post office.
The foremen all head off to get tomorrow's work assignments.
The line at the post office is crazy long, which seems a constant state of affairs, gulag or outside world.
Getting a package is a huge process since the orderlies rip it open and search it and spill stuff. So men have to bring sacks to catch everything.
Shukhov holds a place in line for Tsezar, who is off getting his bag.
Shukhov never gets packages, since he told his wife not to send them since she can't really spare anything from her or the kids. But Shukhov secretly wishes he could get mail just once.
Meanwhile, he learns that the zeks won't get Sunday off this week. Worst camp ever.
Tsezar finally shows up and starts chatting with a fellow Moscow resident about a recent newspaper they've seen.
Shukhov rolls his eyes and goes to leave. But Tsezar gets down from his ivory tower long enough to tell Shukhov to eat his dinner portion if he wants.
Shukhov wants and he is off like a flash to the mess hall.
On the way he thinks of all the stupid rules that govern camp life.
First he stops off at his hut and retrieves his piece of bread from his mattress.
Then he arrives at the mess hall. It's a mob scene outside.
The mess hall is totally like some sort of old western saloon – we can picture Shukhov walking up and seeing someone come flying out of the swinging doors while someone plays "Camptown Races" on the piano and other men smash bottles over people's heads. And some guy swings on a chandelier. OK, maybe that's us. Point is: the mess hall is crazy.
Limpy, the mess orderly, is standing at the door beating people back since there are too many gangs inside already.
As he drifts off to sleep, he thinks that he's had a pretty nice day since he got extra food, snuck in his blade, and avoided the hole.
The narrator then ends by telling us that this is one day of the 3,653 days of Shukhov's prison sentence.
IV. setting
V. Vocabulary .
· Bench = shukhov sat on a bench near the wall,
· Uncomfortable = he sat in that Uncomfortable way,
· Involuntarily : Involuntarily emphasizing that he was unfamiliar with the place and that he’d come there on some minor metter.
· Emphasizing : Involuntarily emphasizing that he was unfamiliar with the place and that he’d come there on some minor metter
· Unfamiliar : Involuntarily emphasizing that he was unfamiliar with the place and that he’d come there on some minor metter
· Scratch : even mice didn’t scratch there.
· Quietness : in such Quietness
· Infirmay : but he recalled, now they didin’t let you lie in bed even in the campt infarmary.
· Ought : that te doctor Ought.
· Beyond : but is was something beyond
· Poverty : then the raise them selvess out of the poverty in which
She wal living and they send the children.
· innocent : World War II. He is innocent but is nonetheless punished by the government for being a spy.
· Escort : The escort guards have guns and dogs with them.
Snowy : They all set off across the snowy, frozen plain.
Marching : While marching, Shukhov's thoughts wander.
fought : He fought in World War II.
postcard. : Sounds like a postcard.
cigarette : Fetyukov is gathering up cigarette butts for himself.
partially : Senka is partially deaf and can't really follow what people say.
gruel. : Shukhov then goes to the office to give Tsezar his gruel
wastes : The men are mad since this wastes time.
yelling : The zeks all start yelling at him
sluggishly : Everyone is moving sluggishly and it's taking forever.
marching : Finally everyone starts marching back to camp.
exhausted : Shukhov is exhausted and angry that his evening is shot
guard : Finally the guard raises his gun and everyone stops fighting and yelling.
bricklayers : Everyone starts packing it in, and the bricklayers start finishing up.
frantically : So the bricklayers frantically try to use it up and lay bricks really fast.
unnerved : Guess the murder spree has unnerved him
interruption. : The gang gets back to work after the interruption.
exhausted : he men hauling supplies are exhausted but they keep going.
Bricklaying : Everyone gets to work either mixing mortar for bricklaying
Kildigs : Kildigs jokes that Shukhov's spent most of his times in easy camps.
rations : But Shukhov says that this camp is nicer than the other camp he's been in since they get bigger rations and stop work on time usually.
Throats : Fetyukov argues that this camp is a hell-hole since people are getting their throats cut.
murder : Pavlo thinks the informants have it coming. The whistle goes off: dinner time!
Mess : Pavlo rushes to the mess hall with Shukhov and Gopchik.
Wander : On the way there, Shukhov's thoughts wander to the eating situation in the camp.
The average : It's a totally corrupt racket basically. People in powerful positions, like the cook, get more food and better food than the average zek, and everyone is always fighting over what food they do get and are trying to get more.
Fittest : It's down and dirty survival of the fittest here.
chaos : chInside it's total chaos, as usual.
Chaotic : Once in the chaotic mess hall, our boys from 104 get to work finding trays and getting some food.
secures : Gopchik runs back to bring the rest of the gang once Pavlo secures a spot in line.
Spot : Shukhov is excited since today is oatmeal gruel day. We don't recognize that Quaker Oatmeal flavor, perhaps it's new.
passing : The cook starts passing out bowls. The foreman gets an extra portion always. Tyurin always gives his to Pavlo, since he's cool.
distracted : But then the cook gets distracted counting bowls, and Shukhov is able to steal two.
shouting : Shukhov and the cook get into a shouting match over it, but the cook can't prove that any bowls are gone, so he drops it after a bit.
announced : Gang 104 has shown up, and are announced by the Captain who starts shouting at people to move. He has such great people skills.
Estonians : Shukhov passes the extra bowls off to the two Estonians in order to ditch the incriminating evidence.
VI. BIOGRAFY Alexander solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn |
Born |
Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
|
Died |
3 August 2008 (aged 89)
|
Occupation |
Novelist, soldier, teacher |
Ethnicity |
Russian |
Citizenship |
USSR, Russian Federation |
Alma mater |
Rostov State University |
Notable work(s) |
One Day in the Life of
Ivan Denisovich,
|
Notable award(s) |
Nobel Prize in
Literature
|
Spouse(s) |
Natalia Alekseyevna Reshetovskaya
(1940–52; 1957–72)
|
Children |
Yermolai Solzhenitsyn (born 1970),
|
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