Week 6 - Illustrious Artist

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich 

Author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Week 6

Illustrious Artist 

Ryoung Kim

Source

In the ending, It seemed that Shukhov started to not care as much as before about doing favours for someone in order to receive something. He started out to do favours in order to help others. Shukhov and Alyoshka's conversation really showed the readers that Shukhov started to accept Alyoshka's Christian philosophy. Even though Shukhov is not religious, he experiences a moral birth during his theological conversation with Alyoshka. The main reason I chose this image of the biscuit was because of Shukhov's generous act after the conversation. In page 166, he gave Alyoshka one of his precious biscuits and claimed to him, "Here you are, Alyoshka" and handed him a biscuit. Alyosha smiled and responded, " Thank you. But you've got nothing yourself." This conversation was a very heartwarming one. This was a very interesting and a surprising scene to me because it was Shukhov's first time doing something for someone else without expecting anything as a payback. Also, the quote "we've got nothing but we always find a way to make something extra" was touching too. The gift to Alyoshka wasn't calculated or done in order to receive a return. It was a good deed he truly did for someone. In this scene, it clearly shows that Shukhov is changing into a new and a better person.