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Phillip Scarboro

Formal Essay

Dr. Auge

5/10/2016

Resistance in the Gulag: Solzhenitsyns One Day in the Life of Ivan Denosivich and the Effect

Powerful Literature Has on the World

When you hear the name Stalin, the hairs on the back of your neck should stand up just

like they do when you hear the name Hitler. Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union

(USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union underwent a transformation from a

poor society to a military powerhouse. However, Stalin ruled with power, fear, and oppression.

If you opposed Stalin, you were either executed or sent to one of the prison camps called gulags.

Here, you are barred from contact with the outside world and are forced to work to the point of

exhaustion all while enduring frigid temperatures and near starvation. Needless to say, it was a

dangerous time to question leadership in the USSR. (History Channel)

The author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, made the

mistake of bad mouthing Stalin. Or maybe he didnt. But since it was alleged, he was thrown in

a gulag anyway. It did not matter to anyone that he served with distinction in the Russian Army.

If you spoke poorly of Stalin, you were going to do hard labor, end of question. Solzhenitsyn did

eight years hard labor until Stalin died in 1953. He relocated to Central Asia until Premier

Khrushchevs historic speech in which he denounced Stalin. Solzhenitsyn returned to the Soviet

Union and began to write about his experiences in the gulag. It is these writings that inspired

him to write One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

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One Day in the Life is an important piece of literature because it provides an inside look

into horrific times in Soviet history that many do not know about. Being knowledgeable about

terrible times in history is important so we do not repeat those actions again. But perhaps more

importantly, it shows us that our lives arent so bad. If prisoners in gulags are able to find silver-

linings and maintain their dignity despite sub-human conditions, my life isnt so bad. Despite the

level of absolute oppression instilled on prisoners in gulags, most Zeks were able to maintain a

high level of dignity through hidden resistance.

In order to fully understand what Zeks went through, you must understand the level of

total domination that was imposed. Three types of domination were imposed on Zeks in some

form or fashion, mostly by prison guards. It should be noted that although the guards are the

main oppressors throughout the book, in a way they are representative of a higher power. After

all, the guards would not be working at gulags if they were not ordered to by the Stalin Regime.

Even though prison guards are simply following orders, the different ways in which they oppress

Zeks are truly disturbing.

One form of domination that was imposed on Zeks was material domination. Material

domination can be defined as appropriation of land, appropriation of body, and physical threats

or abuse. Appropriation of land is common among Zeks throughout the book. As a Zek, even if

your family is able to keep the land you owned, it does not mean the land will still be yours by

the time you are out eight years later. Not to mention, many Zeks livelihood depended on the

land itself.

Appropriation of body is also prominent within gulags, as it occurs every single day.

From the moment a Zek wakes until the moment he goes to bed, he does not own his body. He is

forced to wake up early in the morning no matter how he is feeling and work his ass off all day.
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All he gets in return is a small cot to sleep in and barely enough food to live on. The worst part

about the process is that it never changes. No matter what, you are going to have to wake up

early in the morning to work in the frigid cold. No days off, no exceptions. What keeps workers

motivated is the will to live. If you do not work, you will be thrown in the cells to freeze. Or,

you may get a rifle butt to the face. Prison guards make sure you know whos in charge. They

(the guards) flung a semicircle around the column on its way to the power station, their machine

guns sticking out and pointing right at your face. (pp.30) Although the Zeks make minimal

efforts to outwardly resist, the guards are always ready to use force.

The final form of material domination, abuse and physical threats is the most common.

There is abuse everywhere you turn in the gulags. One major form of abuse is the lack of proper

clothing gulags provide. A prisoner was allowed to wear a shirt and an undershirthe was

stripped of everything else. (pp.30) Keep in mind temperatures can dip as low as -40 degrees.

If a prisoner was caught wearing extra clothing, he could be punished. It makes sense that the

camps would not have an unlimited supply of clothing to provide. What does not make sense is

preventing Zeks from wearing extra clothing that they themselves provided is truly evil.

Allowing prisoners to wear extra clothing to stay warm would not hurt their work. If anything

their work would likely improve. But this rule is not about keeping the work-rate high. This rule

is enforced to make Zeks lives more difficult and miserable. Most everything the Zeks endure is

for the purpose of breaking them down to the point that they no longer feel like humans.

Because of their inability to resist material domination for fear of the consequences, material

domination was the most successful form in gulags.

Another form of domination manifested throughout the book is status domination. Status

domination can be defined as humiliation, denial of privileges, and attacks on basic human
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dignity. Guards feel they are on a different level than Zeks when it comes to status, and they let

it be known. They are quick to insult prisoners even when they have done nothing to provoke

such comments. Guards use demeaning names like the f word for instance, in order to assert

their status domination over the Zeks. Stop, you fuckers, get back or Ill bash your heads in.

(pp.112) A guard yelled at a group of Zeks being pushed too far forward by Zeks in the back.

The Zeks in the front had little control over the line being pushed forward but still the guard

threatened their lives. Although the guards were always trying to instill status domination, they

were not successful most of the time. A guard can yell at a group of Zeks and calls them a bad

name, but if they dont let it get to them, it doesnt matter. Sure, they will follow his orders for

fear of their lives, but calling a Zek a bad name proved to have little effect on his ability to

maintain his status. Sticks and stones may break their bones but words will never hurt them.

The final form of domination present in One Day in the Life is ideological domination

which can be defined as justification by ruling the elite. In other words, the ruling elite force

their ideological values on all of their citizens. Ideological domination is largely unsuccessful

because despite the threats, Zeks clearly do not share ideological values with the Soviet ruling

elite. For example, they are not afraid to insult Stalin. Do you mean to say you think Old

Whiskers (Stalin) will take pity on you? Why, he wouldnt trust his own brother. (pp. 122)

Although they do not have much time for conversation, Zeks are not afraid to bash Stalin when

they get the chance. Since they are already imprisoned, they might as well speak their mind. For

the most part, nothing ever comes of the bad-mouthing. Zeks are not afraid to let their disdain

for Stalin be known despite the state they currently find themselves in. This is but one of many

examples proving ideological domination was relatively unsuccessful.

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Out of the three forms of domination, material domination was by far the most

successful. Although status and ideological domination were incomplete, material domination

was not. Zeks were materially dominated on pretty much every level imaginable. Considering

the brutal amount of material domination guards instilled, it is amazing they were unable to

break Zeks down to the point of total domination on all facets.

Although Zeks demonstrated overt resistance on a few occasions, including the bad-

mouthing of Stalin, they avoided it for the most part. Bashing the regime while lying in your cot

amongst other Zeks is one thing, but interrupting work is another. When marching, you were to

have your hands behind your back at all times or the guards would assume you were trying to

escape and gun you down without hesitation. Attention prisoners. Marching orders must be

strictly obeyed. Keep your ranks. No hurrying, keep a steady pace. No talking. Keep your eyes

fixed ahead and your hands behind your backs. A step to right or left is considered an attempt to

escape and the escort has orders to shoot without warning. (pp.31) Any form acting out would

either get you shot or thrown in the cells. It simply was not worth the punishment, and life for

other Zeks did not improve when one Zek acted out and got shot. If anything, guards would be

stricter going forward in response to the misbehavior. No, overt resistance was not a good

choice. Hidden resistance is different because you avoid the punishments that overt resistance

brings. Hidden resistance is what kept Zeks going despite grueling conditions in gulags.

The three forms of hidden resistance are status resistance, ideological resistance, and

material resistance. All three forms of hidden resistance are frequently present throughout the

book. It is these forms of hidden resistance that allow Zeks to lead better lives. As grim as the

life of a Zek appears to be, it would be far worse if they were unable to resist the oppression.
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Hidden status resistance can be defined as fantasies of revenge or creation of an

alternative social space where dignity can be asserted. Hidden status resistance is represented in

many ways throughout One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Perhaps the most prominent

form of status resistance is Ivans spoon. Because the people running Gulags are horrible,

oppressive people, they do not care enough to provide Zeks with a spoon at mealtime. Shukhov

pulled his spoon out of his boot. His little baby. (pp.13) Having a spoon hardly seems like it

should be a priority when you are trying to survive the everyday grind that is gulag life. But

imagine for a moment you are worked like a horse all day with guns pointed in your face. It

would be extremely dehumanizing. So when its dinner time, having a few moments to relax and

enjoy your meal is a big deal. But instead of eating your soup like a normal human being, you

are forced to slurp the soup out of the bowl like a dog. Your one moment to be a person, and you

are again forced to act like an animal. This is the reality many prisoners face and Ivan would too

if he did not have his trusty spoon.

Another way hidden status resistance manifests itself is through the comradarie a Zek

shares with his fellow Zek. Rather than always being in it for oneself, Zeks frequently look out

for one another. If a member of your squad is not present during mealtime, one of the lower

ranking Zeks in the squad will get his bowl of soup and save it for him. Fetiukov caught sight

of Shukhov and with a sigh surrendered his place. Its all cold. I was going to eat your helping.

Thought you were in the guardhouse. But, here is your soup Ivan. (pp.13) When a squad

member is missing during mealtime, it would be easy for one of the Zeks to grab his bowl of

soup and eat it, but they dont. Zeks understand that they may find themselves missing dinner

time and it would be wrong to deprive a man of his food. This type of comradery also helps

Zeks maintain their status. One of the normal things you experience every day in the real world
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are relationships. Without real, human relationships, you would lose yourself rather quickly.

Relationships are important for maintaining status and dignity. Having fellow peers who they

can trust allow Zeks to cope with everyday life and at times, it even keeps them alive.

Hidden material resistance was present on several occasions in One Day in the Life.

Perhaps the most symbolic item of material resistance was Aloyshas Bible. Bibles, were

forbidden in the gulags. On the outside, it may seem Aloysha is taking an unnecessary risk. If

they found his Bible, they may throw him in the cells for ten days. Or they may do worse. And

all for a book. But when you realize how much The Bible means to Aloysha, you begin to

understand why he would risk his well-being to keep it. One must never stop praying. If you

have real faith you tell a mountain to move and it will move. (pp. 134) Aloyshas faith is

clearly what keeps him going. He reads from his Bible every night and whenever any interest is

shown by another Zek, Aloysha happily discusses his Christian faith. If Aloysha did not have his

Bible, it would be difficult for him to maintain the unique level of general happiness he seems to

possess.

Although Aloyshas Bible itself is a material object of hidden resistance, his faith is

ideological hidden resistance. Ideological hidden resistance is defined as development of

subcultures like religions/nostalgia. Aloysha sees the world a little differently than most people.

He is usually able to find the silver-lining in ways others cannot. Aloysha appreciates the little

things in life and rarely complains. This ideological way of thinking is derived from his faith in

God. If you ripped Aloyshas faith from him, he would be a completely different person. He

would have no reason to get up in the morning, no reason to live. Faith is what motivates

Aloysha.
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Although different prisoners are driven by different forms of hidden resistance, all Zeks

would agree that they used at least one of those forms during their time in the gulag. Some used

hidden resistance to maintain status, and some used it to motivate them to work. Whatever the

case may be, it is safe to say hidden resistance was extremely successful in gulags. It may be

difficult to understand how hidden resistance could be considered successful when it never

helped anyone get out of a gulag. But imagine what life would be like for a Zek if he was unable

to utilize hidden resistance. Almost all Zeks had their own form of subtle resistance. If you took

away that ability to resist, Zeks may begin to believe a guard when he calls them them scum of

the earth. The fact that so many Zeks were able to make it through the guard abuse and the

strenuous, cold days is proof enough that hidden resistance was successful.

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote One Day in the Life I believe his secondary goal

was to show the brutal struggle Zeks were unjustly put through. But his main goal was to show

their ability to overcome and maintain human dignity against all odds and obstacles. There is no

way to better demonstrate the fight humans have in them than by recounting the horrible,

oppressive nature of gulags and then describing how Zeks not only survived but maintained self-

respect. Since Solzhenitsyn lived this experience first-hand, he is the perfect author for the job.

During his Nobel Lecture in 1970, Solzhenitsyn stated that literature allows us to live

another mans experience in a way nothing else can. From man to man, as he completes his

brief spell on Earth, art transfers the whole weight of an unfamiliar, lifelong experience with all

its burdens, its colors, its sap of life; it recreates in the flesh an unknown experience and allows

us to possess it as our own. (Solzhenitsyn Nobel Speech) One Day in the Life does exactly that.

As you read, you feel overwhelmed with sadness. You sympathize with Ivan. You start to

admire the Zeks. All these emotions come over you, probably didnt even know what the hell a
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gulag was before you picked the book up. One Day in the Life more than accomplishes the goals

of literature laid out by Solzhenitsyn in his Nobel Speech.

Throughout history, literature has been an important facet in understanding different time

periods. Without Anne Franks diary, would we have as clear an understanding what Jews went

through to escape persecution in Germany? Just like the Diary of Anne Frank changed the way

many view World War II, Solzhenitsyn has changed the way I view the Soviet Union and Joseph

Stalin. I was aware of the oppressive nature of the Soviet Union but had virtually no knowledge

of gulags or the unbelievable number of innocent people arrested. Alexanders Solzhenitsyns

ability to show the struggle for life and human dignity in gulags perfectly meet the goals he set

for literature. Every English student should read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
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Bibliography

History.com Staff. "Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan.

2009. Web. 10 May 2016.

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isaevich. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York:

Dutton, 1963. Print.

Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Isaevich. "Nobel Lecture." Alexander Solzhenitsyn Nobel

Lecture. 1970. Nobelprize.org. Web. 8 May 2016.