In “One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich”, a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the ill-fated protagonist Shukov, a prisoner of a Stalinist Labor camp, is forced to withstand the nearly insufferable living conditions. By using overpowering external forces – stripping prisoners of their identities by allocating them numbers instead of names, the removal of individuality, through the character of Fetyukov who has lost his dignity, symbolism – spoon and blade, the Solzhenitsyn depicts how the protagonist, Shukov, has succeeded in maintaining his dignity.
Shukov’s struggle to maintain his dignity throughout the imprisonment despite the overpowering external forces is remarkable. Solzhenitsyn portrays this dignity in two different ways, one is being treated with respect, and the other one is his own self-worth. The labor camp degrades the prisoners’ piously by substituting their names into letter and number combinations such as “Schcha-854” and grouping them into one mass such as “Gang 104”. This clearly shows that in the camp prisoners have had their identities are taken away. By eliminating their individuality of name, their individual characteristics are ultimately eradicated. The prisoners are reduced to insignificance by mere digits to represent who they are. This taking of their dignity is further exacerbated as Shukov and the prisoners are treated with such disrespect that they seem as insignificant as objects, as they are given a total lack of privacy. Although other prisoners sheepishly accept these combinations of letters and numbers as their new identity, Shukov constantly questions this new coding system and strives not to accept it as his true identity. He feels almost ready to rebel against the coding system believing that his name represents himself as an individual. Shukov uses passive rebellion rather than physical rebellion and this is a very clever choice as physical rebellion such as running away in the night, he would be punished severely. The underlying purpose of the Stalinist camp is to demoralize the prisoners and keep them under full control. Shukov rises above the purpose of the Stalinist camp and takes pride in his work, environment and enjoys camaraderie with his fellow prisoners.
Through the intricate details of the living conditions in the labor camp, it is evident that the guards showed no respect for the prisoners as humans. Mattresses do not have sheets; prisoners only given two hundred grams of bread per meal; and the guards force the prisoners to undress for body searches at temperatures at forty below zero at any time of the night or morning. Solzhenitsyn artfully reveals the Shukov’s struggle through the almost cryptic descriptions of his actions; “…- however cold it was, he wouldn’t let himself eat with his cap on…” Shukov shows his maintenance of dignity by behaving like a gentleman, which can be linked as a vestige of his past life, even though manners seem obsolete or wasted in such inhospitable living conditions, Shukov still maintains at least a semblance of normality. “…quickly checking what he had found its way into his bowl”. Solzhenitsyn creates a disheartening atmosphere and shows Shukhov’s resilient stoicism about his environment and situation. The use of the adverb – quickly – shows Shukhov’s aversion to the contents of the bowl, indicating his method of ‘coping’ as he tries to avoid noticing the distasteful reality of his life. Solzhenitsyn utilizes the passive formation of the sentence to denote that Shukhov did not even have any say over the contents of his bowl. “… what had found its way into his bowl…” Shukhov as a character seems to hold on to every bit of what is left of his human dignity. The reader is inspired to sympathize with the protagonist and marvel at his quiet maintenance of this little shred of dignity. Solzhenitsyn further emphasizes that the camp did not succeed in eliminating Shukhov’s dignity. This is exemplified in Shukhov’s insistence of removing his cap before eating, even though it was cold. It can be gleaned from this that even in the camp, Shukhov still adheres to the civilized tradition of doing so, and in a way asserts his dignity. It almost seems the degradation of the camp was to such an extent that Shukhov was in practiced resignation to this fact. Although the conditions are subhuman the protagonist, Shukov, through his belief system, denies conforming.
Shukhov does not allow himself to take on the degrading behavior of others, as portrayed by the foil character Fetyukov, a fellow prisoner often called “a filthy rat” as he is frequently caught licking bowls. Through this character, Solzhenitsyn accentuates the importance of maintaining dignity and shows the reader what happens when one has lost his dignity and human qualities. “… He must have been beaten up again for licking out dishes…” Solzhenitsyn’s use of Fetyukov exemplifies him as a foil character distinctly contrasting to Shukov’s determination to maintain his dignity. The degradation of Fetyukov’s dignity is placed in sharp contrast to Shukhov’s admirable actions. “…he knew his rights, of course…but even after eight years … he was no scrounger…” While Fetyukov obtains bread by begging, Shukhov works doubly hard at the Power Station work site and earns his bread and is determined to be an exemplary citizen. Instead, it almost seems as if his morality increases in several ways in the camp. Through the portrayal of the times when Shukov felt “… pleased with life as he went to sleep…,” Solzhenitsyn delineates Shukhov’s acceptation of his identity as a prisoner in a camp and he tries his best to think of it positively. Instead of falling into depression or questioning his circumstances, Shukhov puts on an impressive display of dignity. This is evident in the intensity in which he goes about doing all his daily tasks, be it eating or working. Solzhenitsyn describes Shukhov’s focus while working on a brick wall “as if he owned every inch of it”. This simile gives the reader the impression that he carried out the tedious task with a sense of importance. Although he is a prisoner, he puts in his best effort, he even“… enjoyed working on the wall.” This shows his triumph over adversity. He also enjoys the work he is allocated to and takes a positive stance towards it. Through his assertion of his humanity, he almost seems to be quietly rebelling and resisting the demoralizing effect of the Stalinist camp. By juxtaposing these two characters, (one has lost his dignity and the other strives to maintain his dignity), Solzhenitsyn underlines the importance of having self-worth.
In this novel, Shukov attempts to preserve parts of his dignity through symbolic objects such as a spoon and blade. Shukhov had in his possession a spoon and a blade that represented his individuality. Solzhenitsyn emphasizes that “…he hadn’t been caught with the blade at the search point” that he hid this blade from the guards by keeping in the inside of his boots. This reminded Shukhov of his individuality, the very thing that the camp tried to strip him of. This object remains undiscovered by the authorities, one of the few things Shukhov can keep in private. Possession of the spoon and blade reminds Shukov of his individuality and uniqueness as the other gang members do not have the spoon and blade. The privilege of having these cutlery sets him apart from the rest of the prisoners and he attaches a lot of importance to these objects as they are part of his identity. Possessing them – blade and spoon – comes to mean that he possesses his own identity and dignity under these subhuman conditions. The spoon symbolizes how in this oppressive camp, a prisoner must carefully hide the unique part of him that sets him apart, no matter how small a thing it is. Solzhenitsyn’s description of this spoon as his most prized possession reflects on the dignity he struggles to maintain. The symbolism of the spoon is a double-fold, delineating Shukhov’s priority in taking care of himself both physically and spiritually. This symbolic object serves as proof that Shukhov’s efforts to maintain his dignity are deliberate and implicit at the same time. He projects his identity and dignity on the spoon and blade.
The maintenance of dignity portrayed at the end of “One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich”, shows that Shukhov has grown increasingly stronger as a character and he has found various ways of maintaining his dignity. Although external forces of the Stalinist camp constantly make it extremely hard for him to earn respect and keep his self-worth, he has succeeded in earning respect from his fellow prisoners. This shows his own strength of character and belief system. Solzhenitsyn has successfully depicted that no matter how tough circumstances are, Shukhov seems to be proof that even in a Stalinist camp; no one can strip a person of his dignity completely as there are choices one can make to preserve it. Solzhenitsyn has employed symbols and intricate descriptions, to portray the maintenance of dignity in the protagonist in his novel.