The idea for the story came to the writer’s mind when he was serving time in the Ekibastuz concentration camp. Shukhov - main character"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is collectively. 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
Brigadier Tyurin |
In Solzhenitsyn’s story, Tyurin is a Russian man whose soul is rooting for the brigade. Fair and independent. The life of the brigade depends on his decisions. Smart and honest. He came to the camp as the son of a kulak, he is respected among his comrades, they try not to let him down. This is not Tyurin’s first time in the camp; he might go against his superiors. |
Captain Second Rank Buinovsky |
The hero is one of those who does not hide behind others, but is impractical. New to the zone, so doesn’t understand the subtleties yet camp life, the prisoners respect him. Ready to stand up for others, respects justice. He tries to stay cheerful, but his health is already failing. |
Film director Caesar Markovich |
A person far from reality. He often receives rich parcels from home, and this gives him the opportunity to settle well. Loves to talk about cinema and art. He works in a warm office, so he is far from the problems of his cellmates. He has no cunning, so Shukhov helps him. Not malicious and not greedy. |
Alyoshka is a Baptist |
A calm young man, sitting for his faith. His convictions did not waver, but became even stronger after his imprisonment. Harmless and unassuming, he constantly argues with Shukhov about religious issues. Clean, with clear eyes. |
Stenka Klevshin |
He is deaf, so he is almost always silent. He was in a concentration camp in Buchenwald, organized subversive activities, and brought weapons into the camp. The Germans brutally tortured the soldier. Now he is already in the Soviet zone for “treason to the Motherland.” |
Fetyukov |
The description of this character is dominated only by negative characteristics: weak-willed, unreliable, cowardly, does not know how to stand up for himself. Causes contempt. In the zone he begs, does not hesitate to lick plates, and collect cigarette butts from the spittoon. |
Two Estonians |
Tall, thin, even outwardly similar to each other, like brothers, although they only met in the zone. Calm, non-belligerent, reasonable, capable of mutual assistance. |
Yu-81 |
A significant image of an old convict. He spent his entire life in camps and exile, but never once caved in to anyone. Arouses universal respect. Unlike others, the bread is placed not on a dirty table, but on a clean rag. |
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
The story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” brought popularity to the writer. The work became the author's first published work. It was published by the magazine New world"in 1962. The story described one ordinary day of a camp prisoner under the Stalinist regime.
History of creation
Initially the work was called “Shch-854. One day for one prisoner,” but censorship and a lot of obstacles from publishers and authorities influenced the name change. Main actor The story described was Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
The image of the main character was created based on prototypes. The first to serve was Solzhenitsyn’s friend, who fought with him at the front during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War, but did not end up in the camp. The second is the writer himself, who knew the fate of camp prisoners. Solzhenitsyn was convicted under Article 58 and spent several years in a camp, working as a mason. The story takes place in the winter month of 1951 in hard labor in Siberia.
The image of Ivan Denisovich stands apart in Russian literature of the 20th century. When there was a change of power, and it became permissible to talk about the Stalinist regime out loud, this character became the personification of a prisoner in a Soviet forced labor camp. The images described in the story were familiar to those who suffered a similar sad experience. The story served as an omen for a major work, which turned out to be the novel “The Gulag Archipelago.”
"One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich"
The story describes the biography of Ivan Denisovich, his appearance and how the daily routine in the camp is drawn up. The man is 40 years old. He is a native of the village of Temgenevo. When he went to war in the summer of 1941, he left his wife and two daughters at home. As fate would have it, the hero ended up in a camp in Siberia and managed to serve eight years. The ninth year is coming to an end, after which he will again be able to lead a free life.
According to the official version, the man received a sentence for treason. It was believed that, having been in German captivity, Ivan Denisovich returned to his homeland on instructions from the Germans. I had to plead guilty to stay alive. Although in reality the situation was different. In the battle, the detachment found itself in a disastrous situation without food and shells. Having made their way to their own, the fighters were greeted as enemies. The soldiers did not believe the story of the fugitives and handed them over to the court, which determined hard labor as punishment.
First, Ivan Denisovich ended up in a strict regime camp in Ust-Izhmen, and then he was transferred to Siberia, where restrictions were not so strictly observed. The hero lost half his teeth, grew a beard and shaved his head bald. He was assigned the number Shch-854, and his camp clothes make him a typical little man whose fate is decided by higher authorities and people in power.
During his eight years of imprisonment, the man learned the laws of survival in the camp. His friends and enemies from among the prisoners had equally sad fates. Relationship problems were a key disadvantage of being incarcerated. It was because of them that the authorities had great power over the prisoners.
Ivan Denisovich preferred to show calm, behave with dignity and maintain subordination. A savvy man, he quickly figured out how to ensure his survival and a worthy reputation. He managed to work and rest, planned his day and food correctly, skillfully found common language with whoever was needed. The characteristics of his skills speak of wisdom inherent at the genetic level. Serfs demonstrated similar qualities. His skills and experience helped to become the best master in the brigade, earn respect and status.
Illustration for the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" Ivan Denisovich was a full-fledged manager of his destiny. He knew what to do in order to live comfortably, did not disdain work, but did not overwork himself, could outwit the overseer and easily bypassed sharp corners in communication with prisoners and with superiors. Ivan Shukhov's happy day was the day when he was not put in a punishment cell and his brigade was not assigned to Sotsgorodok, when the work was done on time and the rations were stretched out for the day, when he hid a hacksaw and it was not found, and Tsezar Markovich gave him some extra money for tobacco.
Critics compared the image of Shukhov with a hero - Hero from common people, broken by the insane state system, found himself between the millstones of the camp machine, breaking people, humiliating their spirit and human self-awareness.
Shukhov set himself a bar below which it was unacceptable to fall. Therefore, he takes off his hat when he sits down at the table and neglects the fish eyes in the gruel. This is how he preserves his spirit and does not betray his honor. This elevates a man above the prisoners licking bowls, vegetating in the infirmary and knocking on the boss. Therefore, Shukhov remains a free spirit.
The attitude towards work in the work is described in a special way. The laying of the wall causes an unprecedented stir, and the men, forgetting that they are camp prisoners, put all their efforts into its rapid construction. Industrial novels, filled with a similar message, supported the spirit of socialist realism, but in Solzhenitsyn’s story it is more of an allegory to The Divine Comedy.
A person will not lose himself if he has a goal, so the construction of a thermal power plant becomes symbolic. Camp existence is interrupted by satisfaction from the work done. The purification brought by the pleasure of fruitful work even allows you to forget about the disease.
The main characters from the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" on the theater stage The specificity of the image of Ivan Denisovich speaks of the return of literature to the idea of populism. The story raises the topic of suffering in the name of the Lord in a conversation with Alyosha. The convict Matryona also supports this theme. God and imprisonment do not fit into the usual system of measuring faith, but the argument sounds like a paraphrase of the Karamazovs’ discussion.
Productions and film adaptations
The first public visualization of Solzhenitsyn's story took place in 1963. The British channel NBC released a teleplay with Jason Rabards Jr. leading role. Finnish director Caspar Reed shot the film “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” in 1970, inviting artist Tom Courtenay to collaborate.
Tom Courtenay in the film "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" The story is in little demand for film adaptation, but in the 2000s it found a second life on theater stage. A deep analysis of the work carried out by the directors proved that the story has great dramatic potential, describes the country's past, which should not be forgotten, and emphasizes the importance of eternal values.
In 2003, Andriy Zholdak staged a play based on the story in Kharkov drama theater them. Solzhenitsyn did not like the production.
Actor Alexander Filippenko created a one-man show in collaboration with theater artist David Borovsky in 2006. In 2009 in Perm academic theater opera and ballet Georgy Isaakyan staged an opera to music by Tchaikovsky based on the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” In 2013, the Arkhangelsk Drama Theater presented a production by Alexander Gorban.
Today we will discuss the image of the main character in Solzhenitsyn's stories. The image of Shukhin is unmemorable and ordinary. So the author shows that the fate of the main character could befall any person in those years. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is the main character of the work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” Shukhov is one of those who were subjected to repression. He was an average citizen.
Our experts can check your essay according to the Unified State Exam criteria
Experts from the site Kritika24.ru
Teachers of leading schools and current experts of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Nothing is said in the text about his family and education. He does not lose hope of being brought home. (“...The only thing he would like to ask God for is to go home.”).
Originally from the village of Temgenevo, Ryazan region. He has a family: a wife and two daughters. First, let's look at the portrait of the hero. This is the rare case when inner beauty more visible than the external one. That is, the hero’s soul is wide and open.
He is 40 years old. He is savvy and hardworking. He never refuses work, seeing peace in it.
The cruel era did not eradicate decency in him, did not break the moral core that allowed him to remain humane even in difficult times. life situation. The hero was at war, was captured, and when he escaped he was arrested for “treason.” Righteousness is distinguishing feature Ivan Denisovich.
The character's appearance was influenced by being in the camp. So the hero's teeth fell out due to scurvy. Shaved head and long beard. All prisoners had the same clothes: all tattered and patched.
The hero believes that work ennobles a person, so he does not refuse any work.
Thus, the main character is a mirror of the thoughts of the writer himself.
Updated: 2018-04-22
Attention!
Thank you for your attention.
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.
By doing so, you will provide invaluable benefits to the project and other readers.
[in the camp]? [Cm. summary of the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”] After all, it’s not just the need to survive, not the animal thirst for life? This need alone produces people who work at the table, like cooks. Ivan Denisovich is at the other pole of Good and Evil. Shukhov’s strength lies in the fact that despite all the inevitable moral losses for a prisoner, he managed to keep his soul alive. Such moral categories as conscience, human dignity, decency determine his life behavior. Eight years of hard labor did not break the body. They didn’t break their soul either. Thus, the story about the Soviet camps grows to the scale of a story about the eternal power of the human spirit.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn. One day of Ivan Denisovich. The author is reading. Fragment
Solzhenitsyn's hero himself is hardly aware of his spiritual greatness. But the details of his behavior, seemingly insignificant, are fraught with deep meaning.
No matter how hungry Ivan Denisovich was, he did not eat greedily, attentively, and tried not to look into other people's bowls. And even though his shaved head was freezing, he always took off his hat while eating: “no matter how cold it is, he couldn't allow himself is in the hat." Or another detail. Ivan Denisovich smells the fragrant smoke of a cigarette. “... He tensed up in anticipation, and now this tail of a cigarette was more desirable to him than, it seems, the will itself - but he wouldn't have dropped himself and I wouldn’t look into your mouth like Fetyukov.”
There is deep meaning in the words highlighted here. Behind them lies a huge inner work, struggle with circumstances, with oneself. Shukhov “forged his soul himself, year after year,” managing to remain human. “And through that - a grain of his people.” Speaks about him with respect and love
This explains Ivan Denisovich’s attitude towards other prisoners: respect for those who survived; contempt for those who have lost their human form. So, he despises the goner and jackal Fetyukov because he licks bowls, that he “dropped himself.” This contempt is aggravated, perhaps, because “Fetyukov, of course, was a big boss in some office. I drove a car." And any boss, as already mentioned, is an enemy for Shukhov. And so he doesn’t want the extra bowl of gruel to go to this goon, he rejoices when he gets beaten. Cruelty? Yes. But we also need to understand Ivan Denisovich. It took him considerable mental effort to preserve his human dignity, and he earned the right to despise those who had lost their dignity.
However, Shukhov not only despises, but also feels sorry for Fetyukov: “To figure it out, I feel so sorry for him. He won't live out his time. He doesn’t know how to position himself.” Zek Shch-854 knows how to stage himself. But his moral victory is expressed not only in this. After spending for many years in penal servitude, where the cruel “taiga law” operates, he managed to preserve his most valuable asset - mercy, humanity, the ability to understand and pity another.
All sympathies, all sympathy of Shukhov are on the side of those who survived, who have strong spirit and mental fortitude.
Brigadier Tyurin is pictured in the imagination of Ivan Denisovich like a fairy-tale hero: “... the foreman has a steel chest /... / I’m afraid to interrupt his high thought /... / Stands against the wind - he won’t wince, the skin on his face is like oak bark.” (34) . The same is true for prisoner Yu-81. “...He spends countless hours in camps and prisons, how much Soviet power costs...” The portrait of this man matches the portrait of Tyurin. Both of them evoke images of heroes, like Mikula Selyaninovich: “Of all the hunched backs of the camp, his back was excellently straight /... / His face was all exhausted, but not to the weakness of a disabled wick, but to a hewn, dark stone” (102).
This is how “Human Fate” is revealed in “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” - the fate of people placed in inhuman conditions. The writer believes in the unlimited spiritual powers of man, in his ability to withstand the threat of brutality.
Re-reading Solzhenitsyn’s story now, you involuntarily compare it with “ Kolyma stories » V. Shalamova. The author of this terrible book draws the ninth circle of hell, where suffering reached such a degree that, with rare exceptions, people could no longer maintain their human appearance.
“Shalamov’s camp experience was bitterer and longer than mine,” writes A. Solzhenitsyn in “The Gulag Archipelago,” “and I respectfully admit that it was he, and not me, who got to touch the bottom of brutality and despair to which the entire camp life pulled us " But while giving this mournful book its due, Solzhenitsyn disagrees with its author in his views on man.
Addressing Shalamov, Solzhenitsyn says: “Maybe anger is not the most durable feeling after all? With your personality and your poems, don’t you refute your own concept?” According to the author of “The Archipelago,” “...and in the camp (and everywhere in life) corruption does not occur without ascension. They are nearby."
Noting the fortitude and fortitude of Ivan Denisovich, many critics, however, spoke of his poverty and down-to-earth nature. spiritual world. Thus, L. Rzhevsky believes that Shukhov’s horizons are limited to “bread alone.” Another critic argues that Solzhenitsyn’s hero “suffers as a man and a family man, but to a lesser extent from the humiliation of his personal and civic dignity.”
Ivan Denisovich
IVAN DENISOVICH is the hero of A.I. Solzhenitsyn’s story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1959-1962). Image of I.D. as if the author were composed of two real people. One of them is Ivan Shukhov, an already middle-aged soldier of the artillery battery, which was commanded by Solzhenitsyn during the war. The other is Solzhenitsyn himself, who served time under the notorious Article 58 in 1950-1952. in the camp in Ekibastuz and also worked there as a mason. In 1959, Solzhenitsyn began writing the story “Shch-854” (the camp number of prisoner Shukhov). Then the story was called “One Day of One Prisoner.” The editors of the magazine “New World,” in which this story was first published (No. 11, 1962), at the suggestion of A.T. Tvardovsugo, gave it the name “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”
Image of I.D. has special meaning for Russian literature of the 60s. along with the image of Zhivago before and Anna Akhmatova’s poem “Requiem”. After the publication of the story in the era of the so-called. Khrushchev's thaw, when Stalin’s “personality cult” was first condemned, I.D. became for the entire USSR of that time a generalized image of a Soviet prisoner - a prisoner of Soviet forced labor camps. Many former convicts under Article 58 recognized “Shv.D. themselves and their destiny.
I.D. Shukhov is a hero from the people, from the peasants, whose fate is broken by the merciless government system. Finding himself in the camp's hellish machine, grinding and destroying physically and spiritually, Shukhov tries to survive, but at the same time remain human. Therefore, in the chaotic whirlwind of camp non-existence, he sets a limit for himself, below which he must not fall (not to eat with a hat, not to eat fish eyes swimming in gruel) - otherwise death, first spiritual, and then physical. In the camp, in this kingdom of continuous lies and deceit, those who die are those who betray themselves (lick bowls), betray their bodies (hang around in the infirmary), betray their own (snitch) - lies and betrayal destroy first of all those who obeys them.
The episode " shock labor- when the hero and his entire team suddenly, as if forgetting that they are slaves, with some kind of joyful enthusiasm take on laying the wall. L. Kopelev even called the work “a typical production story in the spirit of socialist realism.” But this episode has above all symbolic meaning, correlated with " Divine Comedy» Dante (transition from the lower circle of hell to purgatory). In this work for the sake of work, creativity for the sake of creativity, I.D. he is no longer building the notorious thermal power plant, he is building himself, he remembers himself free - he rises above the camp slave non-existence, experiences catharsis, purification, he even physically overcomes his illness. Immediately after the release of “One Day” in Solzhenitsyn, many saw the new Leo Tolstoy,” Shv.D. - Platon Karataev, although he is “not round, not humble, not calm, does not dissolve in the collective consciousness” (A. Arkhangelsky). In essence, when creating the image of I.D. Solzhenitsyn proceeded from Tolstoy’s idea that a peasant’s day could be the subject of a volume as voluminous as several centuries of history.
To a certain extent, Solzhenitsyn contrasts his I.D. “Soviet intelligentsia”, “educated people”, “paying taxes in support of obligatory ideological lies.” Disputes between Caesar and the kavtorang about the film “Ivan the Terrible” by I.D. are incomprehensible, he turns away from them as far-fetched, “lordly” conversations, as from a boring ritual. Phenomenon I.D. is associated with the return of Russian literature to populism (but not to nationalism), when in the people the writer no longer sees “truth”, not “truth”, but a comparatively smaller “touch of lies” compared to “education”.
Another feature of the image of I.D. is that he does not answer questions, but rather asks them. In this sense, the dispute between I.D. is significant. with Alyoshka the Baptist about imprisonment as suffering in the name of Christ. (This dispute directly correlates with the disputes between Alyosha and Ivan Karamazov - even the names of the heroes are the same.) I.D. does not agree with this approach, but reconciles their “cookies”, which I.D. gives it to Alyosha. The simple humanity of the act overshadows both Alyoshka’s frenziedly exalted “sacrifice” and I.D.’s reproaches to God “for imprisonment.”
The image of I.D., like Solzhenitsyn’s story itself, stands among such phenomena of Russian literature as “ Caucasian prisoner"A.S. Pushkin, "Notes from dead house"and "Crime and Punishment" by F.M. Dostoevsky, "War and Peace" (Pierre Bezukhoe in French captivity) and "Resurrection" by L.N. Tolstoy. This work became a kind of prelude for the book “The Gulag Archipelago”. After the publication of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn received from readers huge amount letters, from which he later compiled the anthology “Reading Ivan Denisovich.”
Lit.: Niva Zh. Solzhenitsyn. M., 1992; Chalmaev V.A. Alexander Solzhenitsyn: life and work. M., 1994; Curtis J.M. Solzhenitsyn’s traditional imagination. Athens, 1984; Krasnov V. Solzhenitsyn and Dostoevsky. Athens, 1980.