Strength of the Human Spirit Revealed by Ivan Denisovich...

Strength of the Human Spirit Revealed in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Life can be incredibly hard at times; nearly everyone encounters a period of time when circumstances become unbearably difficult. Imagine being assigned to ten years of unceasing and tremendous hardships, as is the plight of the protagonist in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This book describes in detail only one day of Ivans ten-year sentence in a Russian work camp in the 1950s. During this day, which is like most others, he is starved, nearly frozen, overworked, and punished unjustly; however, as the day unfolds, it is obvious that Ivan will never give up and never give in. The character of Ivan Denisovich is a†¦show more content†¦As Ivan dresses, he remembers with disgust that his work gang may be assigned to a new job, building a Socialist Community Development in the middle of a cold field covered in icy snow. A fellow prisoner claims, Its at least twenty below (6) outside and Ivan knows that the only way he and his gang will keep warm out on the field will be to work hard and fast, which will be difficult given the conditions and limited food rations. Ivan and his gang know that the men in the other gangs are just as weak as they are; no other gang receives any more food rations, or more clothing than they do. Regardless, the gang boss plans to palm the job off on some other gang (4). In a struggle for survival, nearly all human beings will gladly pawn their pain and hardships off onto other, struggling human beings. Therefore, Ivan and his gang act only as any other humans would act in such a situation. The symbolism is apparent when it is understood that humans, even those who are not in such extreme positions of survival as a Russian work camp, act in this manner. Ivan and his gang, in their time of desperate struggle, reflect the actions of average human beings in simple, day-to-day struggles. Ivan, at this point, has lived in the camp for eight years. Before his arrest, he had been a carpenter and a soldier with a family, and a life of his own, and now, because of harsh physical and emotional conditions, he has become hard; even his