Characteristics of the heroes of the work Ivan Denisovich Day. "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" main characters

Solzhenitsyn's story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" was created in 1959. The author wrote it during a break between work on the novel “In the First Circle.” In just 40 days, Solzhenitsyn created One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Analysis of this work is the topic of this article.

Subject of the work

The reader of the story gets acquainted with the life in the camp zone of a Russian peasant. However, the theme of the work is not limited to camp life. In addition to the details of survival in the zone, “One Day...” contains details of life in the village, described through the prism of the hero’s consciousness. The story of Tyurin, the foreman, contains evidence of the consequences that collectivization led to in the country. In various disputes between camp intellectuals, various phenomena of Soviet art are discussed (the theatrical premiere of the film “John the Terrible” by S. Eisenstein). In connection with the fate of Shukhov's comrades in the camp, many details of the history of the Soviet period are mentioned.

The theme of the fate of Russia is the main theme of the work of such a writer as Solzhenitsyn. “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,” the analysis of which interests us, is no exception. In it, local, private topics are integrated organically into this general problem. In this regard, the theme of the fate of art in a state with a totalitarian system is indicative. So, artists from the camp paint free paintings for the authorities. The art of the Soviet era, according to Solzhenitsyn, became part of the general apparatus of oppression. An episode of Shukhov’s reflections on village artisans producing dyed “carpets” supported the motif of the degradation of art.

Plot of the story

The plot of the story created by Solzhenitsyn (“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”) is chronicle. The analysis shows that although the plot is based on events lasting only one day, his memories allow him to imagine the pre-camp biography of the main character. Ivan Shukhov was born in 1911. He spent his pre-war years in the village of Temgenevo. His family includes two daughters (his only son died early). Shukhov has been at war since its first days. He was wounded and then captured, from where he managed to escape. In 1943, Shukhov was convicted of a fabricated case. He served 8 years at the time of the plot action. The action of the work takes place in Kazakhstan, in a convict camp. One of the January days of 1951 was described by Solzhenitsyn (“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”).

Analysis of the work's character system

Although the main part of the characters was depicted by the author with laconic means, Solzhenitsyn managed to achieve plastic expressiveness in their depiction. We observe the diversity of individuals, the richness of human types in the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” The heroes of the story are depicted succinctly, but at the same time remain in the reader’s memory for a long time. Sometimes a writer only needs one or two fragments, expressive sketches. Solzhenitsyn (photo of the author is presented below) is sensitive to the national, professional and class specifics of the human characters he created.

The relationships between the characters are subject to a strict camp hierarchy in the work One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. A brief summary of the entire prison life of the protagonist, presented in one day, allows us to conclude that there is an insurmountable gap between the camp administration and the prisoners. It is noteworthy that in this story the names and sometimes surnames of many guards and overseers are absent. The individuality of these characters is manifested only in forms of violence, as well as in the degree of ferocity. On the contrary, despite the depersonalizing number system, many of the camp inmates in the hero’s mind are present with names, and sometimes with patronymics. This suggests that they have retained their individuality. Although this evidence does not apply to the so-called informers, idiots and wicks described in the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”. These heroes also have no names. In general, Solzhenitsyn talks about how the system unsuccessfully tries to turn people into parts of a totalitarian machine. Particularly important in this regard, in addition to the main character, are the images of Tyurin (the foreman), Pavlo (his assistant), Buinovsky (cavalier), the Baptist Alyoshka and the Latvian Kilgas.

Main character

In the work "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" the image of the main character is very remarkable. Solzhenitsyn made them an ordinary peasant, a Russian peasant. Although the circumstances of camp life are obviously “exceptional,” the writer deliberately emphasizes the outward inconspicuousness and “normality” of behavior in his hero. According to Solzhenitsyn, the fate of the country depends on the innate morality and natural resilience of the common man. The main thing in Shukhov is his indestructible inner dignity. Ivan Denisovich, even while serving his more educated fellow prisoners, does not change his age-old peasant habits and does not let himself down.

His working skill is very important in the characterization of this hero: Shukhov managed to acquire his own convenient trowel; In order to cast spoons later, he hides the pieces; he sharpened a folding knife and skillfully hid it. Further, the seemingly insignificant details of the existence of this hero, his demeanor, the peculiar peasant etiquette, everyday habits - all this, in the context of the story, takes on the meaning of values ​​that allow the human element in a person to be preserved in difficult conditions. Shukhov, for example, always wakes up 1.5 hours before the divorce. He belongs to himself in these morning minutes. This time of actual freedom is important for the hero also because he can earn extra money.

"Cinematic" compositional techniques

One day in this work contains a cluster of a person’s fate, a squeeze out of his life. It is impossible not to notice the high degree of detail: each fact in the narrative is divided into small components, most of which are presented in close-up. The author uses “cinematic” He scrupulously, incredibly carefully watches how, before leaving the barracks, his hero gets dressed or eats to the skeleton a small fish caught in the soup. Even such a seemingly insignificant gastronomic detail, like fish eyes swimming in a stew, is given a special “frame” in the story. You will be convinced of this by reading the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” The contents of the chapters of this story, with careful reading, allows you to find many similar examples.

The concept of "deadline"

The important thing is that in the text the works come closer to each other, sometimes becoming almost synonymous, such concepts as “day” and “life”. Such a rapprochement is carried out by the author through the concept of “deadline,” which is universal in the narrative. The term is the punishment meted out to the prisoner, and at the same time the internal routine of life in prison. Moreover, and most importantly, it is synonymous with a person’s fate and a reminder of the last, most important period of his life. Temporal designations thereby acquire a deep moral and psychological coloring in the work.

Location

The location of the action is also very significant. The camp space is hostile to prisoners; the open areas of the zone are especially dangerous. The prisoners are in a hurry to run between rooms as quickly as possible. They are afraid of being caught in this place and are in a hurry to duck under the protection of the barracks. In contrast to the heroes of Russian literature who love the distance and expanse, Shukhov and other prisoners dream of a cramped shelter. For them, the barracks turns out to be home.

What was one day like for Ivan Denisovich?

The characteristics of one day spent by Shukhov are directly given by the author in the work. Solzhenitsyn showed that this day in the life of the protagonist turned out to be successful. Discussing him, the author notes that the hero was not put in a punishment cell, the brigade was not sent out to Sotsgorodok, he made porridge for lunch, the foreman closed the interest well. Shukhov laid the wall cheerfully, didn’t get caught with a hacksaw, and in the evening he worked at Caesar’s and bought some tobacco. The main character also did not get sick. An unclouded, “almost happy” day passed. This is the case in the work of its main events. The author's final words sound just as epically calm. He says that there were 3653 such days in Shukhov’s term - 3 extra days were added due to

Solzhenitsyn refrains from openly displaying emotions and loud words: it is enough for the reader to have corresponding feelings. And this is guaranteed by the harmonious structure of the story about the power of man and the power of life.

Conclusion

Thus, in the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” problems were posed that were very relevant for that time. Solzhenitsyn recreates the main features of the era when the people were doomed to incredible hardships and torments. The history of this phenomenon begins not with 1937, marked by the first violations of the norms of party and state life, but much earlier, with the beginning of the existence of the totalitarian regime in Russia. The work, therefore, presents a cluster of destinies of many Soviet people who were forced to pay through years of torment, humiliation, and camps for their devoted and honest service. The author of the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” raised these problems so that the reader would think about the essence of the phenomena observed in society and draw some conclusions for himself. The writer does not moralize, does not call for something, he only describes reality. The work only benefits from this.

“Here, guys, the law is the taiga. But people live here too. This is who is dying in the camp: who licks the bowls, who relies on the medical unit, and who goes to knock on the godfather” - these are the three fundamental laws of the zone, told to Shukhov by the “old camp wolf” foreman Kuzmin and since then strictly observed by Ivan Denisovich. “Licking bowls” meant licking already empty plates in the canteen for prisoners, that is, losing human dignity, losing one’s face, turning into a “gossip,” and most importantly, falling out of the fairly strict camp hierarchy.

Shukhov knew his place in this unshakable order: he did not strive to get into the “thieves”, to take a higher and warmer position, however, he did not allow himself to be humiliated. He did not consider it shameful for himself “to sew someone a mitten cover from an old lining; serve the rich brigadier dry felt boots directly on his bed...", etc. However, Ivan Denisovich never asked to pay him for the service rendered: he knew that the work performed would be paid according to its merits, and the unwritten law of the camp rests on this. If you start begging and groveling, it won’t be long before you turn into a “six”, a camp slave like Fetyukov, whom everyone pushes around. Shukhov earned his place in the camp hierarchy through deeds.

He also does not rely on the medical unit, although the temptation is great. After all, hoping for a medical unit means showing weakness, feeling sorry for yourself, and self-pity corrupts and deprives a person of his last strength to fight for survival. So on this day, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov “overcame”, and while working, the remnants of the illness evaporated. And “knocking on the godfather” - reporting your own comrades to the head of the camp, Shukhov knew, was generally the last thing. After all, this means trying to save yourself at the expense of others, alone - and this is impossible in the camp. Here, either together, shoulder to shoulder, do a common forced task, standing up for each other when absolutely necessary (as the Shukhov brigade stood up for their foreman at work in front of the construction foreman Der), or live trembling for your life, expecting that at night you will be killed by your own people. as comrades in misfortune.

However, there were also rules, not formulated by anyone, but nevertheless strictly observed by Shukhov. He firmly knew that it was useless to fight the system directly, as, for example, captain Buinovsky was trying to do. The falsity of Buinovsky’s position, refusing, if not to reconcile, then at least to outwardly submit to the circumstances, was clearly manifested when at the end of the working day he was taken to an ice cell for ten days, which in those conditions meant certain death. However, Shukhov was not going to completely submit to the system, as if feeling that the entire camp order served one task - to turn adults, independent people into children, weak-willed executors of other people's whims, in a word - into a herd.

To prevent this, it is necessary to create your own little world, into which the all-seeing eye of the guards and their minions does not have access. Almost every camp inmate had such a field: Tsezar Markovich discusses issues of art with people close to him, Alyoshka the Baptist finds himself in his faith, Shukhov tries, as far as possible, to earn himself an extra piece of bread with his own hands, even if it requires him to sometimes even break the laws of the camp. So, he carries a hacksaw blade through the “shmon”, search, knowing what the discovery of it threatens him with. However, you can make a knife out of linen, with the help of which, in exchange for bread and tobacco, you can repair shoes for others, cut out spoons, etc. Thus, even in the zone, he remains a real Russian man - hardworking, economical, skillful. It is also surprising that even here, in the zone, Ivan Denisovich continues to take care of his family, even refuses parcels, realizing how difficult it will be for his wife to collect this parcel. But the camp system, among other things, strives to kill in a person this sense of responsibility for another, to break all family ties, to make the prisoner completely dependent on the rules of the zone.

Work occupies a special place in Shukhov’s life. He doesn’t know how to sit idle, he doesn’t know how to work carelessly. This was especially evident in the episode of building a boiler house: Shukhov puts his whole soul into forced labor, enjoys the very process of laying a wall and is proud of the results of his work. Work also has a therapeutic effect: it drives away illness, warms you up, and most importantly, brings the members of the brigade closer together, returning to them the feeling of human brotherhood, which the camp system tried unsuccessfully to kill.

Solzhenitsyn also refutes one of the stable Marxist dogmas, simultaneously answering a very difficult question: how did the Stalinist system manage to raise the country from ruins twice in such a short period of time - after the revolution and after the war? It is known that much in the country was done by the hands of prisoners, but official science taught that slave labor was unproductive. But the cynicism of Stalin’s policy lay in the fact that the best people ended up in the camps for the most part - such as Shukhov, the Estonian Kildigs, cavalryman Buinovsky and many others. These people simply did not know how to work poorly; they put their souls into any work, no matter how hard and humiliating it was. It was with the hands of the Shukhovs that the Belomorkanal, Magnitka, and Dneproges were built, and the war-ravaged country was restored. Separated from their families, from home, from their usual worries, these people devoted all their strength to work, finding their salvation in it and at the same time unconsciously asserting the power of the despotic government.

Shukhov, apparently, is not a religious person, but his life is consistent with most Christian commandments and laws. “Give us this day our daily bread,” says the main prayer of all Christians, “Our Father.” The meaning of these deep words is simple - you need to take care only of the essentials, knowing how to give up what you need for the sake of what is necessary and be content with what you have. Such an attitude towards life gives a person an amazing ability to enjoy little things.

The camp is powerless to do anything with the soul of Ivan Denisovich, and he will one day be released as a man unbroken, not crippled by the system, who has survived the fight against it. And Solzhenitsyn sees the reasons for this perseverance in the primordially correct life position of the simple Russian peasant, a peasant who is accustomed to coping with difficulties, finding joy in work and in those small joys that life sometimes gives him. Like the great humanists Dostoevsky and Tolstoy once upon a time, the writer calls on us to learn from such people their attitude to life, to stand in the most desperate circumstances, and to save their face in any situation.

Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn is a writer and publicist who entered Russian literature as an ardent opponent of the communist regime. In his work, he regularly touches on the theme of suffering, inequality and the vulnerability of people to Stalinist ideology and the current state system.

We present to your attention an updated version of the review of Solzhenitsyn’s book -.

The work that brought A.I. Solzhenitsyn's popularity became the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." True, the author himself later made an amendment, saying that in terms of genre specifics, this is a story, albeit on an epic scale, reproducing the gloomy picture of Russia at that time.

Solzhenitsyn A.I. in his story, he introduces the reader to the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a peasant and military man who ended up in one of Stalin’s many camps. The whole tragedy of the situation is that the hero went to the front the very next day after the attack of Nazi Germany, was captured and miraculously escaped, but when he reached his own people, he was recognized as a spy. This is what the first part of the memoirs is dedicated to, which also includes a description of all the hardships of the war, when people had to eat corneas from the hooves of dead horses, and the command of the Red Army, without remorse, abandoned ordinary soldiers to die on the battlefield.

The second part shows the life of Ivan Denisovich and hundreds of other people staying in the camp. Moreover, all the events of the story take only one day. However, the narrative contains a large number of references, flashbacks and references to the life of the people, as if by chance. For example, correspondence with my wife, from which we learn that in the village the situation is no better than in the camp: there is no food and money, the residents are starving, and the peasants survive by dyeing fake carpets and selling them to the city.

As we read, we also learn why Shukhov was considered a saboteur and a traitor. Like most of those in the camp, he was convicted without guilt. The investigator forced him to confess to treason, who, by the way, couldn’t even figure out what task the hero was performing, allegedly helping the Germans. In this case, Shukhov had no choice. If he had refused to admit to something he never did, he would have received a “wooden pea coat,” and since he cooperated with the investigation, then “at least you’ll live a little longer.”

Numerous images also play an important part in the plot. These are not only prisoners, but also guards, who differ only in how they treat the camp inmates. For example, Volkov carries with him a huge and thick whip - one blow of it tears a large area of ​​skin until it bleeds. Another bright, albeit minor character is Caesar. This is a kind of authority in the camp, who previously worked as a director, but was repressed without ever making his first film. Now he is not averse to talking with Shukhov on topics of contemporary art and presenting him with a small piece of work.

In his story, Solzhenitsyn very accurately reproduces the life of prisoners, their drab life and hard work. On the one hand, the reader does not encounter blatant and bloody scenes, but the realism with which the author approaches the description makes him horrified. People are starving, and the whole point of their life comes down to getting themselves an extra slice of bread, since they won’t be able to survive in this place on a soup of water and frozen cabbage. Prisoners are forced to work in the cold, and in order to “pass the time” before sleeping and eating, they have to work in a race.

Everyone is forced to adapt to reality, find a way to deceive the guards, steal something or secretly sell it. For example, many prisoners make small knives from the tools, then exchange them for food or tobacco.

Shukhov and everyone else in these terrible conditions look like wild animals. They can be punished, shot, beaten. All that remains is to be more cunning and smarter than the armed guards, try not to lose heart and be true to your ideals.

The irony is that the day that constitutes the time of the story is quite successful for the main character. He was not put in a punishment cell, he was not forced to work with a team of construction workers in the cold, he managed to get a portion of porridge for lunch, during the evening search they did not find a hacksaw on him, and he also worked part-time at Caesar’s and bought tobacco. True, the tragedy is that during the entire period of imprisonment, three thousand six hundred and fifty-three such days accumulated. What's next? The term is coming to an end, but Shukhov is sure that the term will either be extended or, worse, sent into exile.

Characteristics of the main character of the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”

The main character of the work is a collective image of a simple Russian person. He is about 40 years old. He comes from an ordinary village, which he remembers with love, noting that it used to be better: they ate potatoes “in whole frying pans, porridge in cast iron pots...”. He spent 8 years in prison. Before entering the camp, Shukhov fought at the front. He was wounded, but after recovery he returned to the war.

Character appearance

There is no description of his appearance in the text of the story. The emphasis is on clothing: mittens, pea coat, felt boots, cotton trousers, etc. Thus, the image of the main character is depersonalized and becomes the personification of not only an ordinary prisoner, but also a modern resident of Russia in the mid-20th century.

He is distinguished by a feeling of pity and compassion for people. He worries about the Baptists who received 25 years in the camps. He feels sorry for the degraded Fetikov, noting that “he won’t live out his term. He doesn’t know how to position himself.” Ivan Denisovich even sympathizes with the security guards, because they have to be on duty on towers in the cold or in strong winds.

Ivan Denisovich understands his plight, but does not stop thinking about others. For example, he refuses parcels from home, forbidding his wife to send food or things. The man realizes that his wife has a very hard time - she raises children alone and looks after the household during the difficult war and post-war years.

A long life in a convict camp did not break him. The hero sets certain boundaries for himself that cannot be violated under any circumstances. It's corny, but he makes sure not to eat fish eyes in his stew or always take off his hat when eating. Yes, he had to steal, but not from his comrades, but only from those who work in the kitchen and mock his cellmates.

Ivan Denisovich is distinguished by honesty. The author points out that Shukhov never took or gave a bribe. Everyone in the camp knows that he never shirks from work, always tries to earn extra money and even sews slippers for other prisoners. In prison, the hero becomes a good mason, mastering this profession: “with Shukhov you won’t be able to dig into any distortions or seams.” In addition, everyone knows that Ivan Denisovich is a jack of all trades and can easily take on any task (patches padded jackets, pours spoons from aluminum wire, etc.)

A positive image of Shukhov is created throughout the entire story. His habits as a peasant, an ordinary worker, help him overcome the hardships of imprisonment. The hero does not allow himself to humiliate himself in front of the guards, lick the plates or inform on others. Like every Russian person, Ivan Denisovich knows the value of bread, carefully storing it in a clean rag. He accepts any work, loves it, and is not lazy.

What then is such an honest, noble and hardworking man doing in a prison camp? How did he and several thousand other people end up here? These are the questions that arise in the reader as he gets to know the main character.

The answer to them is quite simple. It's all about an unjust totalitarian regime, the consequence of which is that many worthy citizens find themselves prisoners of concentration camps, forced to adapt to the system, live away from their families and be doomed to long torment and hardship.

Analysis of the story by A.I. Solzhenitsyn "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"

To understand the writer’s intention, it is necessary to pay special attention to the space and time of the work. Indeed, the story depicts the events of one day, even describing in great detail all the everyday moments of the regime: getting up, breakfast, lunch, dinner, leaving for work, the road, the work itself, constant searches by security guards and many others. etc. This also includes a description of all prisoners and guards, their behavior, life in the camp, etc. For people, real space turns out to be hostile. Every prisoner does not like open places, tries to avoid meeting the guards and quickly hide in the barracks. Prisoners are limited by more than just barbed wire. They don’t even have the opportunity to look at the sky - the spotlights are constantly blinding them.

However, there is also another space - internal. This is a kind of memory space. Therefore, the most important are the constant references and memories, from which we learn about the situation at the front, suffering and countless deaths, the disastrous situation of the peasants, as well as the fact that those who survived or escaped from captivity, who defended their homeland and their citizens, often in the eyes of the government they become spies and traitors. All these local topics form the picture of what is happening in the country as a whole.

It turns out that the artistic time and space of the work is not closed, not limited to just one day or the territory of the camp. As it becomes known at the end of the story, there are already 3653 such days in the hero’s life and how many will be ahead is completely unknown. This means that the title “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” can easily be perceived as an allusion to modern society. A day in the camp is impersonal, hopeless, and for the prisoner it becomes the personification of injustice, lack of rights and a departure from everything individual. But is all this typical only for this place of detention?

Apparently, according to A.I. Solzhenitsyn, Russia at that time was very similar to a prison, and the task of the work becomes, if not to show deep tragedy, then at least categorically to deny the position of the one described.

The merit of the author is that he not only describes what is happening with amazing accuracy and with a lot of detail, but also refrains from openly displaying emotions and feelings. Thus, he achieves his main goal - he allows the reader to evaluate this world order himself and understand the meaninglessness of the totalitarian regime.

The main idea of ​​the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”

In his work A.I. Solzhenitsyn recreates the basic picture of life in that Russia, when people were doomed to incredible torment and hardship. A whole gallery of images opens before us that personify the fate of millions of Soviet citizens who were forced to pay for their faithful service, diligent and diligent work, faith in the state and adherence to ideology with imprisonment in terrible concentration camps scattered throughout the country.

In his story, he depicted a situation typical for Russia, when a woman has to take on the worries and responsibilities of a man.

Be sure to read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel, banned in the Soviet Union, which explains the reasons for the author's disillusionment with the communist system.

The short story clearly reveals the list of injustices of the state system. For example, Ermolaev and Klevshin went through all the hardships of the war, captivity, worked underground, and received 10 years in prison as a reward. Gopchik, a young man who recently turned 16, becomes proof that repression is indifferent even to children. The images of Alyosha, Buinovsky, Pavel, Caesar Markovich and others are no less revealing.

Solzhenitsyn's work is imbued with hidden but evil irony, exposing the other side of life in the Soviet country. The writer touched upon an important and pressing issue, which had been taboo all this time. At the same time, the story is imbued with faith in the Russian people, his spirit and will. Having condemned the inhumane system, Alexander Isaevich created a truly realistic character of his hero, who is able to withstand all the torment with dignity and not lose his humanity.

Ivan Denisovich is the main character of Solzhenitsyn’s story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” His prototypes were followed by two actually existing people. One of them is a middle-aged warrior named Ivan Shukhov, who served in a battery, the commander of which was the author himself, who is also the second prototype, who once served time in prison under Article 58.

This is a 40-year-old man with a long beard and shaved head, who is in prison because he and his comrades escaped from German captivity and returned to their own. During interrogation, without any resistance, he signed papers stating that he himself had voluntarily surrendered and became a spy and that he had returned back for reconnaissance. Ivan Denisovich agreed to all this only because this signature gave a guarantee that he would live a little longer. Regarding clothing, it is the same as that of all camp inmates. He is wearing padded trousers, a padded jacket, a pea coat and felt boots.

Under his padded jacket he has a spare pocket where he puts a piece of bread to eat later. He seems to be living his last day, but at the same time with the hope of serving his sentence and being released, where his wife and two daughters are waiting for him.

Ivan Denisovich never thought about why there were so many innocent people in the camp who also allegedly “betrayed their homeland.” He is the kind of person who simply appreciates life. He never asks himself unnecessary questions, he simply accepts everything as it is. Therefore, his first priority was to meet needs such as food, water and sleep. Perhaps it was then that he took root there. This is an amazingly resilient person who was able to adapt to such horrific conditions. But even in such conditions, he does not lose his own dignity, does not “lose himself.”

For Shukhov, life is work. At work, he is a master who is excellent at his craft and only gets pleasure from it.

Solzhenitsyn portrays this hero as a person who has developed his own philosophy. It is based on camp experience and the difficult experience of Soviet life. In the person of this patient man, the author showed the entire Russian people, who are capable of enduring a lot of terrible suffering, bullying and still survive. And at the same time, do not lose morality and continue to live, treating people normally.

Essay on the topic Shukhov Ivan Denisovich

The main character of the work is Shukhov Ivan Denisovich, presented by the writer in the image of a victim of Stalinist repressions.

The hero is described in the story as a simple Russian soldier of peasant origin, distinguished by a toothless mouth, baldness on his shaved head and a bearded face.

For being in fascist captivity during the war, Shukhov was sent to a special hard labor camp for a ten-year term under number Shch-854, eight years of which he has now already served, leaving his family at home in the village consisting of his wife and two daughters.

The characteristic features of Shukhov are his self-esteem, which allowed Ivan Denisovich to maintain a human appearance and not become a jackal, despite the difficult period of his life. He realizes that he is unable to change the current unjust situation and the cruel order established in the camp, but since he is distinguished by his love of life, he comes to terms with his difficult situation, while refusing to grovel and kneel, although he does not hope to find the long-awaited freedom.

Ivan Denisovich seems to be a proud, not arrogant person, capable of showing kindness and generosity towards those convicts who have broken down from being in prison conditions, respecting and pitying them, while at the same time being able to show some cunning that does not cause harm to others.

Being an honest and conscientious person, Ivan Denisovich cannot afford to shirk work, as is customary in prison camps, feigning illness, therefore, even when seriously ill, he feels guilty and is forced to go to the medical unit.

During his stay in the camp, Shukhov proves himself to be a fairly hardworking, conscientious person, a jack of all trades, who does not shy away from any work, participating in the construction of a thermal power plant, sewing slippers and laying stone, becoming a good professional mason and stove maker. Ivan Denisovich tries in any possible way to earn extra money to obtain additional rations or cigarettes, receiving from his work not only additional income, but also real pleasure, treating the assigned prison work with care and economy.

At the end of his ten-year sentence, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov was released from the camp, allowing him to return to his homeland and his family.

Describing the image of Shukhov in the story, the writer reveals the moral and spiritual problem of human relations.

Several interesting essays

• Essay Computer Science is my favorite school subject (reasoning)

  I can’t even say for sure what my favorite class is at school... But I still like computer science. She is less disliked. I really love playing computer games, that's true. Although mom says it's not very good!

• Essay based on the work One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Solzhenitsyn

  A. Solzhenitsyn entered the history of literature as an ardent opponent of totalitarianism. Most of his works are imbued with the spirit of freedom and the desire to preach about human freedom.

In A. S. Pushkin’s work “The Station Warden,” the main action takes place at station ***, where Samson Vyrin, the local stationmaster, told the young man on whose behalf the story is being told about the fate of his daughter Dunya.

• Essay Russian national character

  The character of a Russian person has developed over many centuries, influenced by various factors. Russian people have seen a lot in their lives that is absolutely alien to other peoples

• Characteristics and image of Erast in the story Poor Liza Karamzina essay

  One of the main characters of the work is Erast, presented in the image of a young, attractive and rich nobleman.

The idea for the story came to the writer’s mind when he was serving time in the Ekibastuz concentration camp. Shukhov, the main character of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, is a collective image. He embodies the traits of the prisoners who were with the writer in the camp. This is the first work of the author to be published, which brought Solzhenitsyn worldwide fame. In his narrative, which has a realistic direction, the writer touches on the topic of the relationship between people deprived of freedom, their understanding of honor and dignity in inhuman conditions of survival.

Characteristics of the characters “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”

Main characters

Minor characters

This was an incomplete description of the heroes of the story, the list of which in the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” itself is much longer. This table of characteristics can be used to answer questions in literature lessons.

Useful links

Check out what else we have:

Work test