41 pages • 1 hour read
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1962A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) was a prominent Russian author. He pursued a degree in mathematics at Rostov University and simultaneously took individual courses from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature, and History. Solzhenitsyn served in the Soviet Army during World War II, and he received three heroism awards. In 1945 he was arrested for slandering Joseph Stalin in personal correspondence, and sentenced to eight years in a labor camp. He was then exiled until 1956. After his return to Russia from Kazakhstan, Solzhenitsyn taught high school science and math while writing on the side. He published One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and four other stories in the early 1960s; however, he was expelled from the Writers’ Union in 1969 and arrested and exiled in 1974 after the publication of Gulag Archipelago and August 1914. He moved with his family to Vermont, where he continued writing both fiction and sociopolitical criticism; in 1970 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He returned to Russia in 1994, where he continued to write. He was elected into the Russian Academy of Sciences and was awarded the Russian State Prize in 2007 (“Biography.” Aleksander Solzhenitsyn Center).
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was inspired by Solzhenitsyn’s experience working in a forced labor camp. The realism of the story is often attributed to Solzhenitsyn’s history, although his experiences vary from those of Shukhov, who was arrested after escaping from the Germans. Semi-autobiographical elements that appear in the novel include brief references to punishments for criticizing Stalin and Shukhov’s assumption that, once his prison sentence is served, he will be exiled.
Historical Context: Stalin’s Soviet Union
The Soviet Union, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a Eurasian country from 1922 until 1991. The country was formed after the Russian Revolution, which began in 1917 and during which the existing monarchy was abolished in favor of socialism. The Soviet Union was officially recognized in 1922 after multiple wars, including a civil war and a war with Poland. Joseph Stalin replaced Lenin, a leader during the Russian Revolution, in 1924, becoming the dictator of the USSR. Stalin enacted collectivist farming, and as a result millions of Kulaks—prosperous peasants—were killed. He also continued to develop the Gulag system of forced labor camps, which was introduced by Lenin in 1919. Gulag prisoners, or “zeks,” were forced to work in extreme conditions under threat of violence. The goal of forced labor was to quickly expand industrialization and access to natural resources. In 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany entered into a pact shortly before Germany invaded Poland, which acted as the catalyst for World War II. They formed a non-aggression agreement with Japan and were subsequently invaded by Germany; the USSR retaliated, taking Berlin in 1945. In 1949, the Soviet Union used its first atomic bomb, and in the following year, formed an alliance with Communist China. Stalin died in 1953 (“Soviet Union Timeline.” BBC, 31 Oct. 2013; “Gulag.” History, 13 Sep. 2022).
Shukhov’s backstory aligns with real-world events during the 1940s and 1950s in the Soviet Union. Like Solzhenitsyn, he served in the Soviet Army during World War II. He was arrested in 1945 after being taken as a prisoner of war by Germany and escaping. He was sent first to Ust-Izhma, then to the unnamed labor camp of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The camp’s goal is to expand into and industrialize the far north. The novel is set in 1951, before Stalin’s death.
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