Literary Analysis-Week 4-Lucas Taragano

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Alexander Solzhenistyn

Literary Analysis
Lucas Taragano

What theme or themes does the author explore in the novel?  Which passages in the text connect to theme?

In the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, many themes are present, including some that are more evident, and some that appear to be more concealed. First of all, one that seems more evident to the reader is perseverance. In this book, perseverance is more to the side of surviving. Imagine, living in a frozen confinement. The prisoners have to work in building sites and other places that have to mercy for them. On page 92, there is evidence of the frigid climate, and of the prisoner's evidence. "Now the mortar was being brought up the ramp. Tiurin decided not to have any of it dumped beside the masons- it would only freeze wgile being shifted onto the hods." It is clear how the cold weather is difficult to endure, and that the prisoners must work hard to keep their lives.

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Next, another theme in in the book is hatred."Now the moon was shining full. It cast it's light all around and the crimson was gone.(...) The evening was lost. That damned Moldavian. Those damned guards. This damned life." (Solzhenistyn, 115). This quote from the book shows hatred from the prisoners when it comes to the guards and also amongst themselves. In this situation, the prisoners are stuck waiting to enter again a place that is warmer than outside, but are waiting for someone. They feel hatred towards that person because they are stuck in the cold. Also, they feel hatred towards the guards because instead of letting them in, the guards make them wait for a long time until the find "the missing piece of the puzzle". Finally, something interesting about this quote is it's final sentence. "This damned life". This final piece of evidence expresses how the prisoners feel hatred at themselves, and at their life. A possibility can be that they are feeling too much regret for what they did to end up in this house of horrors, so they are feeling infuriated at themselves.

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Gif to Represent Shukhov's Regret

All in all, it is clear that perseverance and hatred are some of the themes in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.