alexander solzhenitsyn one day in the life of ivan denisovich

These sentences, initially for three-year terms, were based mainly on convictions for violations of the infamous Article 58 of the 1926 Criminal Code (see the essay on Article 58). There were hardly any traditional jail terms handed out any longer instead, criminals and political enemies were sent to labor camps. Thus, from 1929 on, the Soviet rulers began to depend more and more on forced labor. The establishment of the Five-Year Plans for the economic reconstruction of the Soviet Union created heavy demands for workers to achieve this drive toward changing the Soviet Union from an essentially agricultural society to an industrial society, and it was difficult to find willing and qualified workers for the construction of canals, railroads, highways, and large industrial centers. It is estimated that by 1929, there were already more than 1 million prisoners in these camps, mainly for political reasons. In the following years, concentration camps were built and were combined with corrective labor camps in Siberia, under the administration of the secret police. The new rulers of Russia after the violent overthrow of the Czars dealt very harshly with their former, as well as with their new, political adversaries, and, rather than sending their enemies to prison, they began sentencing offenders to 'corrective labor' soon after the revolution of 1917.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich takes place in a 'special' camp run by the Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Settlements, better known by the Russian acronym: GULAG.

Style and Narrative Perspective in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Levels of Meaning in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Ivan Speculates about Faith and Astronomy.

About One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Alexander solzhenitsyn one day in the life of ivan denisovich