Animal Imagery in One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich takes readers through life in a Russian prison camp dur-

ing the days of Stalin. The character and story are based on the author's real-life experience as an

unjustly held political prisoner. Beatings, starvation and cruelty were the staples of existence for

the prisoners, who carved out their daily life through exhaustive work camp labor in sub-zero

temperatures. Driven to the edge of survival, readers witness the subtle means by which the lead

character maintains his sense of humanity. From simply hanging on to a secret spoon to eat with

that he made himself as a means of small hope, to the end of the book where he shows care for

his fellow prisoners - the main character's focus is not on things that were lost, such as his former

life of freedom with his wife - but instead on things within the camp that he finds to keep him

going, such as a pair of felt boots or a small piece of bread he hides to eat later. Such perspective

embodies the courageous qualities of the human spirit.

Shukhov tells the story from dawn to dusk, highlighting the inhumanities of the labor camp and

illuminating that which was once dark to the world.

The story focuses on major themes such as the dehumanization of prisoners and the lengths nec-

essary to preserve one’s humanity in a truly inhumane environment. Throughout this single day

in prison, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, who, along with many other prisoners, has accepted his fate

and period of servitude in the labor camp, attempts to survive. The day’s events may seem a bit

repetitive; however, this repetition is necessary in order to highlight the severity of key factors

opposing Shukhov’s survival, mainly the dehumanizing guards (who refer to the prisoners by

code name at certain times, instead of the Soviet brotherly title of “comrade”), the malnutrition

forced upon prisoners, and the harsh freezing associated with the environment. Throughout this

day-to-day experience, Shukhov must endure, preserving his humanity on the hope of leaving

some day. This one day seems rather average, but that seems to have been the author’s intention

(to make a day which would serve as a representation of each and every day of imprisonment in

the Soviet Gulag).

The animal terminology applied to the prisoners serves to emphasize the dehumanizing condi-

tions in the camp. The author has relates many animals to Shukhov’s character. He referred

Shukhov as an uncaged bird (142). This tells us that Shukhov finds his freedom in food. As men-

tioned in the text when Tsezar gave Shukhov the permission to eat his food it was like Shukhov

had already made plans in his mind on what to do next when Tsezar offers him his food. If we

free a bird from a cage, firstly it will fly as fast as it could in order to avoid getting back into that

cage and secondly if its hungry and looking for something to put in its belly it wouldn’t depend

on its desires it’ll just eat something to satisfy its hunger. Shukhov is similar to the bird in speed

as well. Shukhov runs to the extra portion he has earned for supper "like a free bird". Birds

(some of them) are known to preserve food which is also one of the characteristics Shukhov

shares with it.

The author also mentions that Shukhov sees with the eye of a falcon (107). Falcons fly at high

speed, they have exceptional powers of vision and practically so does Shukhov. Solzhenitsyn

mentions that Shukhov has a sharp eye (58) and the context “Shukhov didn’t make mistakes,

though. The blocks weren’t all the same. If one of them had a corner knocked off a kinky edge or

a blister, Shukhov spotted it right away and knew which way around it needed to be laid and

which spot in the wall was just waiting for it.” (99)

This paragraph suggests that Shukhov was much focussed on his work, he was alert, attentive,

observant and was able to think clearly, to notice things that were going in the wrong direction.

The author mentions that Ivan is a “snout” (37) and his face-cover is a "muzzle" (36). Snout

refers to the long nose of some animals. It is the forward. projecting part of the head of certain

animals, such as dogs, including the mouth, nose and jaws. Muzzle is a restraint on free move-

ment or expression that prevents animal from biting or in this case eating, which is worn on its

snout. Ivan is called that because he knows what to avoid. And so long as he follows the rules of

the camp, he will earn his rightful gruel. He has his own spoon with which he eats and after he’s

finished eating, he doesn’t lick the bowl. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t hungry; he is. But if

he fulfills his desires, he’ll be beaten up by the guards. In this respect, by far the most important

event in his life is food; Shukhov has developed an extraordinary attitude toward the watered-

down soup and black bread which sustain him. To eat becomes a ritualized experience in which

the resurrection of bodily joy — or rather, since he never gets enough, the heightened tension of

desire on the verge of fulfillment — becomes the physical ground of faith in the value of life.

Soup time becomes a "sacred moment" a revelation deep in the body's pleasure that at bottom

and in spite of everything life is strong and worth its pain. Extremity intensifies experience, puri-

fies it, forces men to the essence of their encounters with reality. Shukhov eats his soup, and bliss

wells up like a visitation, like an extravagant blessing, as though this second bowl, tricked from

the cooks, were the fullest beneficence of God. Shukhov attains that rarest of moments, when a

man is simply, and against all evidence, happy to be alive. “Shukhov is a snout” can also be used

as a metaphor. He is considered that way because he is known to abide by the rules and regula-

tions, never shows lousiness or improper behavior. The fact that he’s being referred to an animal

is not only for him.

Not only do the guards call the prisoners invariably by number, denying them the status of hu-

man beings with names, but they also use the familiar form of address (ty) — an intimacy most

insulting in this context. Little food was given and the prisoners only received what they needed

to stay alive. They were treated as though they weren't human. As for Shukhov, he is treated as a

slave and yet returns quality work. He is "a slave on the outside and on the inside, a warrior."

[24]. The guards, address Ivan in dehumanizing terms, complain about his careless mopping per-

formance (13-14).

Shukhov might be unique in his own ways and qualities but guards considered him equal to other

prisoners. At many places in the book, Shukhov and the other prisoners are considered equal to

dogs. It is quoted “It’s dog eat dog here” (75). They are driven by guards with dogs (sobakovody

s sobakami, p. 31) and are themselves often compared to dogs (sobaki): Der (a zek foreman)

treats them "worse than dogs" (p. 37), the Captain "barks" (gavknul, p. 39), they freeze like dogs

(p. 42), they act like dogs--"you need only show a beaten dog the whip" (p. 46), the Muscovites

"smell each other out like dogs" (p. 96). This means the guards have prisoners under their con-

trol. If a prisoner is slow doing some work, make him recall what happened the last time or just

tell him what the punishment will be he’ll facing if he doesn’t complete the work he’s assigned.

He’ll be off to work in no time.

The novel “One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich” shows us a different view of life. Alexander

Solzhenitsyn tells the readers that behind those bars is an animal life that no one would be glad to

live in. Prisoners are known not by their name but by animals. The kind of animal any prisoner is

referred to depends on his personality, his work, his habits and most importantly what he shows

to the world. Citizen guards also refer to prisoners as animals so that they do their work fast and

the guards are done with their duty. The is no favoritism in this novel. All prisoners are treated

equally as animals and given the exact amount of food they need to survive. The brutalization is

underscored by the metaphorical scheme of the work, based almost entirely on animal images.

Reference:

1. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. New York: Farrar, Straus

and Giroux, Inc. 1978