"Happy Day - A Devotion." Pure Devotion. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. <http://lthomason.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/happy-day-a-devotion/>.
In the dialogue between Shukhov and Alyoshka I figured out that Shukhov has given Alyoshka a biscuit actually a precious biscuit I wondered why he did that. I think that the answer for that is that Shukhov has become a giver at that point because I think that he start to accept Alyoshka's philosophy and now he makes uncalculated actions without expecting something in return. So practically in the end of the novel Shukhov has become a completely different person.
"I Give You My Heart Wallpaper." I GIVE YOU MY HEART WALLPAPER. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. <http://wallpapersinhq.com/92603-i_give_you_my_heart/>.
I think that you made a really great point here. I also thought that Shukov also changed but in a different way. I thought that he changed in that he finally realized that he was not going to get out of prison and he started to see that every day of life was a blessing even thought he was in prison.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why he described it a happy day, it was because he had to have some hope as he was in prison, because whenever you go to prison, the days are not happy, it is true, but you still have to have some hope, so that you wont lose it, and by not losing it you will have a better chance of survival in this Gulag. The reason why he gave Alyoshka the biscuit, it was probably because Alyoshka needed that biscuit more than he did, because as he said you can always make extra later, so he still made Alyoshka day better by doing so.
ReplyDeleteJason,
ReplyDeleteI chose to answer your post as I have very different ideas from what you wrote out. The only thing is, I'm not too sure of what the question actually is, or if you're even answering one. Anyways, I'll get on with the comment. For your second idea, I don't think Shukhov did it because he was accepting Alyoshka's philosophy, I think he just did it because he felt like it, he was just in the mood were he didn't really care about the second biscuit. He said he was full already, and that being more than full doesn't matter because the next day you're still hungry. And if you take notice, when he's eating the food from the parcel (the two biscuits and a piece of sausage) he only really describes how it was eating the sausage instead of the biscuit. I agree he had become a different person, but not in the book. I think he had actually changed from the time he was free to when he was captured for a few years, from then on he was practically the same person (there are probably several exceptions, I just think he was mainly the same person.) Anyways, that's just my opinion, but I could see how yours would be valid.