"One Day in Ivan Denisovich" main characters. What qualities of the hero of the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" manifested themselves in the scene of collective work on construction? How a writer creates the image of Ivan Denisovich

Sections: Literature

Epigraph to the lesson:

2. "... groan and rot ... but if you resist, you will break .."

Lesson equipment: on the blackboard portrait of A.I.Solzhenitsyn, projector, screen, presentations (Appendix 1).

The purpose of the lesson:

1. Analyze the story of A.I.Solzhenitsyn.

2. Lead students to the idea of ​​the possibility and even the need to preserve human dignity in any conditions.

3. Show the connection between Solzhenitsyn's reduction and the traditions of Russian classical literature.

During the classes

1. Introductory remarks by the teacher.(from an article by Lydia Chukovskaya)

There are fates, as if deliberately conceived and put on the stage of history by some genius director. Everything in them is dramatically tense and everything is dictated by the history of the country, the ups and downs of its people.

One of such destinies is undoubtedly the fate of Solzhenitsyn. Life and literary.

Vital is known. It coincides with the fate of millions. In peacetime - a student, in war - a soldier and commander of a victorious army, and then, with a new wave of Stalinist repression, - a prisoner.

Monstrous and - alas! - usually. The fate of millions.

1953 year. Stalin died.

His death by itself has not yet resurrected the country. But then, in 1956, Khrushchev, from the rostrum of the party congress, exposes Stalin as an executioner and murderer. In 1962, his ashes were taken out of the mausoleum. Gradually, carefully, the curtain over the corpses of the innocent tortured is lifted and the secrets of the Stalinist regime are revealed.

And then the writer enters the historical stage. History instructs Solzhenitsyn, yesterday's prisoner, to speak out loudly about what he and his comrades have experienced.

This is how the country learned the story of Ivan Shukhov, a simple Russian worker, one of the millions, who was swallowed up by the terrible, bloodthirsty machine of the totalitarian state.

2. Checking ahead of time homework (1)

“How was it born? It was just such a camp day, hard work, I was carrying a stretcher with my partner and thought how to describe the whole camp world - in one day. Of course, you can describe your ten years of the camp, and there the whole history of the camps, but it is enough to collect everything in one day, as if in fragments, it is enough to describe only one day of one average, unremarkable person from morning to evening. And everything will be. This thought was born to me in the 52nd year. In the camp. Well, of course, it was crazy to think about it then. And then years passed. I was writing a novel, I was sick, dying of cancer. And now ... at 59 - m ... "

“Conceived by the author during general works in the Ekibastuz Special Camp in the winter of 1950-51. Implemented in 1959 first as "Ш - 854. One day of one convict", more acute politically. Softened in 1961 - and in this form came in handy for filing in the "New World", in the fall of the same year.

The image of Ivan Denisovich was formed from the soldier Shukhov, who fought with the author in the Soviet - German war (and never sat), the general experience of a prisoner and the author's personal experience in the Special camp as a bricklayer. The rest of the faces are all from the camp life, with their true biographies. "

3. New topic

Teacher. Let's try and we will put together a picture of camp life on the fragments of the text.

Which lines allow the reader to see all the realities of this life?

Possible quotes:

"... Intermittent ringing weakly passed through the glass, frozen in two fingers ..."

"... the orderlies carried one of the eight-bucket parasha ..."

"... Three days kandeya with a conclusion ..."

"... flashlights ... so many of them were stuck that they completely brightened the stars .."

Ahead homework check (2):

The camp depicted by the writer has its own strict hierarchy:

There are ruling chiefs (among them the chief of the regime, Volkova, stands out, "dark, but long, but frowning", fully justifying his name: he looks like a wolf, "rushes quickly", brandishes a twisted leather whip). There are guards (one of them is a gloomy Tatar with a crumpled face, who appears every time "like a thief in the night"). There are convicts who are also located at different levels of the hierarchical ladder. Here one meets the "owners", well settled down, the "six" flutter, informers, informers, the worst of the prisoners, betraying their fellows in misfortune. Fetyukov, for example, not ashamed or disdainful, licks dirty bowls, rakes cigarette butts out of a spittoon. There are "nets" hanging around in the infirmary, "assholes." There are slavishly humiliated and impersonal ones.

Output. One day from wake up to lights out, but he allowed the writer to say so much, to reproduce in such detail the events repeated over three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days, that we can get a complete picture of the life of Ivan Shukhov and the people around him.

Teacher. Solzhenitsyn casually writes about "idiots", "sixes", "shaklah" - just one sentence at a time, sometimes their names or surnames say more: Volkova, Shkuropatenko, Fetyukov. The reception of "speaking" names refers us to the works of Fonvizin and Griboyedov. However, the writer is more interested not so much in this social "cut" of the camp, as in the characters of the prisoners, which are directly related to the main character.

Who are they?

Homework Ahead Test (3)

Possible answer:

These are prisoners who do not drop themselves and keep their face. This is the old man Ju-81, who "sits in camps and prisons for an uncountable amount of how much Soviet power costs," but at the same time has not lost his human dignity. And the other is the "wiry old man" X-123, a convinced fanatic of the truth. This is deaf Senka Klevshin, a former prisoner of Buchenwald, who was a member of an underground organization. The Germans hung him up by the arms and beat him with sticks, but he miraculously survived to now continue his torment in the Soviet camp.

This is the Latvian Jan Kildigis, who has been in the camp for two years out of the measured twenty-five, a wonderful bricklayer who has not lost his penchant for jokes. Alyoshka is a Baptist, a pure-hearted and clean-cut young man, a bearer of spiritual faith and humility. He prays for the spiritual, convinced that God is from him and others "evil scum."

Buinovsky, a former captain of the second rank, who commanded the destroyers, "who walked around Europe and the Great Northern Route", is cheerfully, although he "reaches" before our very eyes. Able to take a hit on himself in difficult times. I am ready to fight with cruel warders, defending human rights, for which he receives “ten days in solitary confinement,” which means he will lose his health for the rest of his life.

Tyurin with traces of smallpox, a peasant in the past, but he has been in the camp for 19 years as the son of a dispossessed man. That is why he was dismissed from the army. His position is now a brigadier, but for the prisoners he is like a father. At the risk of getting a new term, he stands up for people, that's why they respect and love him, they try not to let him down.

Teacher. Trying to destroy a person in a person, the prisoners were stripped of their names and assigned a number. In what work have we already encountered a similar situation?

(E. Zamyatin "We")

Indeed, E. Zamyatin at the beginning of the century warned people about what could happen to a person in a totalitarian society. The novel is written as a utopia, that is, a place that does not exist, but in the middle of the 20th century it turned into reality.

Teacher. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Who is he, the protagonist of Solzhenitsyn's story?

Homework Ahead Test (4)

Possible answer:

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a forty-year-old peasant, torn out by an evil will and from the army, where he honestly fought, like everyone else, for his native land, and from a family where his wife and two daughters knock about without him, who lost his beloved work on the land, so important in the hungry post-war years. A simple Russian peasant from the village of Temgenevo near Polomnia, lost in central Russia, he went to war on June 23, 1941, fought with the enemies until he was surrounded, which ended in captivity. He fled from there with four other daredevils. Shukhov miraculously made his way to “his own people,” where neither the investigator nor Shukhov himself could think of what task the Germans were doing when he escaped from captivity. The counterintelligence service beat Shukhov for a long time and then offered him a choice. “And Shukhov’s calculation was simple: if you don’t sign - a wooden pea coat, if you sign it, you’ll live a little longer. Signature." So they "cooked up" Article 58 for him, and it is now believed that Shukhov sat down for treason. With this painful cross, Ivan Denisovich ended up first in the terrible Ust-Izhmensky general camp, and then in a Siberian convict, where a rag with prisoner number Shch-854 was sewn onto his wadded trousers.

Teacher. How does the main character live, or rather, is he trying to survive? What laws did Shukhov learn during his imprisonment?

Possible answers:

“… Shukhov was filled with words of the first brigadier Kuzyomin… .:

Here, guys, the law is the taiga. But people live here too. In the camp, that's who dies: who licks the bowls, who hopes for the medical unit, and who goes to knock on the godfather. "

"Apart from sleep, the camper lives for himself only ten minutes in the morning at breakfast, and at lunch five, and five at dinner."

".. Caesar smoked ... But Shukhov did not ask directly, but stopped next to Caesar and half-turned looked past him."

"Shukhov has been trampling the earth for forty years already, there are no half teeth and bald spots on his head, he never gave it to anyone or took it from anyone, and he never learned in the camp ..."

"... but Shukhov understands life and does not stretch his belly on someone else's good ..."

“There’s also a knife - earnings. For keeping it - after all, a punishment cell. "

“Money came to Shukhov only from private work: you sew slippers from the supplier's rags - two rubles, you pay out a quilted jacket - also by agreement ...”

Output. For eight years now, Ivan Denisovich He knows that he should not go down, maintain his dignity, not be a "jerk", not become a "jackal", not get into the "six", that he must take care of himself, showing both quickness and sound meaning, and endurance, and perseverance, and ingenuity.

Teacher. What unites all these people: a former peasant, a military man, a Baptist….

Possible answer:

All of them are forced to comprehend the wild manners and laws of the Stalinist hellish machine, striving to survive without fail, but not to lose their human appearance.

Teacher. What helps them not to sink, not to turn into an animal?

Possible answer:

Each of them has its own core, its own moral foundation. They try not to return to thoughts of injustice, not to moan, not to bully, not to fuss, to strictly calculate their every step in order to survive, in order to save themselves for the future life, because hope has not faded yet.

Teacher. Let's turn to the epigraph of our lesson "... and the further, the tighter he held on ...". Now that you know quite a lot about the heroes of the story, explain how you understand this expression. To whom do you think it can be attributed in the first place?

Teacher. Let's try to explain the second line of the epigraph. Whose words are these and how do you understand them?

Output. Ivan Denisovich continues the galaxy of heroes of classical Russian literature. You can recall the heroes of Nekrasov, Leskov, Tolstoy ... the more trials, sufferings, hardships fell on their lot, the stronger their spirit became. So Shukhov tries to survive where nothing contributes to this, moreover, he tries to preserve himself not only physically, but spiritually, because to lose human dignity means to perish. But the hero is not at all inclined to take upon himself all the blows of camp life, otherwise he will not survive, this is what the second line of the epigraph tells us about.

Teacher. Once FM Dostoevsky in the novel "Notes from the House of the Dead" described a year of life in the tsarist penal servitude, and with an involuntary comparison with one Soviet day, despite all the shackles and gauntlets, the tsarist looks more merciful if such a word is appropriate in relation to similar objects. Solzhenitsyn chooses from all the camp days Ivan Denisovich is not the most terrible, without scenes of bullying and violence, although all this is invisible, somewhere in scraps of phrases, a meager description is present. But what is amazing, remember with what thoughts Shukhov ends this day.

(« Shukhov fell asleep quite satisfied ... ... ... A day passed ... almost happy ... ".)

Does the writer really want to convince us that it is possible to live in the camp, that a person can be happy in his misfortune?

Possible answer: I didn't get to the punishment cell, I didn't get sick, I didn't get caught in the shmone, I “cut off” the extra ration ... the absence of misfortunes in conditions that you cannot change - why not happiness ?! "He had a lot of luck during the day .."

Teacher. One of the pleasant moments of this day, Ivan Denisovich considered work. Why?

Reading and analyzing the scene of the masonry wall of the CHP.(from the words "And no more Shukhov saw any distant mischief ..." to the words "And he outlined where how many cinder blocks to put .."; from the words ".. But Shukhov is not mistaken ..." to the words "Such work has gone - no time for the nose wipe it off ... ".)

With what mood does Shukhov work?

How is his peasant frugality manifested?

How can you characterize the work of Ivan Denisovich?

What words of the sentence testify to Shukhov's conscientious attitude to work?

Output. Inborn diligence is another quality of Solzhenitsyn's hero, which makes him related to the heroes of Russian literature of the 19th century and which helps him to survive. A former carpenter, and now a bricklayer, he works conscientiously even on the territory fenced with barbed wire, he simply does not know how to do otherwise. And it is labor that allows him, at least for a while, to escape from the camp existence, to remember himself in the past, to think about his future life and to experience that rare joy in the camp that a toiler - a peasant is capable of experiencing.

4. Concluding remarks from the teacher

You can talk about such a small and such a large work endlessly. How many times you re-read Solzhenitsyn's story, so many times you will open it in a new way. And this is also a property of the best works of classical Russian literature. Today, finishing our lesson, I would like to return to the topic put in the title of the lesson.

At the beginning of the last century, Anna Andreevna Akhmatova wrote her Requiem as a requiem for her tortured, persecuted, dead generation. Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn wrote “One Day in Ivan Denisovich” as a hymn to his generation, a hymn to a man who withstood everything that his “native” state prepared for him, survived, survived, retaining his human dignity. Many broke down, died, but many remained human. They returned to live, raise children and love their homeland selflessly.

5. Homework

It is not possible to discuss and analyze all aspects of such a multifaceted work within the framework of one lesson. I suggest you write an essay about what we did not have time to talk about. What you could see in the story, but we missed. What conclusions did you come to, but we could not.

In the story "One Day in Ivan Denisovich" A. Solzhenitsyn tells about just one day in the camp, which has become a symbol of the terrible era in which our country lived. Condemning the inhuman system, the writer at the same time created the image of a truly national hero who managed to preserve the best qualities of the Russian people.

This image is embodied in the main character of the story - Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. There seems to be nothing special about this hero. So, for example, he sums up the results of the day: “On the day he had a lot of luck: they didn’t put in a punishment cell, they didn’t expel the brigade to Sotsgorodok, he drank porridge at lunchtime ... he didn’t get caught with a hacksaw, he worked in Caesar’s evening and bought tobacco ... And he didn't get sick, he got over it. A day passed, unclouded by anything, almost happy. "
Is this really what happiness lies in? Exactly. The author does not in the least sneer at Shukhov, but sympathizes with him, respects his hero, who lives in harmony with himself and in a Christian way accepts an involuntary position.

Ivan Denisovich loves to work. His principle: earned - get it, "but don't spread your belly on someone else's good." In the love with which he is busy with his work, one can feel the joy of a master who freely owns his work.
In the camp, Shukhov calculates his every step. He tries to strictly comply with the regime, he can always earn extra money, thrifty. But Shukhov's adaptability should not be confused with accommodatingness, humiliation, loss of human dignity. Shukhov well remembered the words of the foreman Kuzemin: "In the camp, that's who dies: who licks the bowls, who hopes for the medical unit, and who goes to knock on the godfather."

This is how weak people are saved, trying to survive at the expense of others, "on someone else's blood." Such people survive physically, but die morally. Shukhov is not like that. He is always happy to stock up on extra rations, to get some tobacco, but not like Fetyukov, who "looks into his mouth, and his eyes burn," and "slobber": "Yes, just pull it once!" Shukhov would get some tobacco so as not to drop himself: Shukhov saw that "his one-brigade leader Caesar smoked, and he smoked not a pipe, but a cigarette - so you can shoot." While taking the queue for the package for Caesar, Shukhov does not ask: “Well, have you got it? - because it would be a hint that he took the turn and now has the right to a share. He already knew what he had. But he was not a jackal even after eight years of common work - and the further, the stronger he was affirmed. "

In addition to Shukhov, there are many episodic characters in the story, which the author introduces into the narrative to create a more complete picture of universal hell. On a par with Shukhov, such as Senka Klevshin, the Latvian Kildigs, Cavtorang Buinovsky, the assistant to the foreman Pavlo and, of course, the foreman Tyurin himself. These are those who, as Solzhenitsyn wrote, “take the blow”. They live without dropping themselves and "never dropping words." It is no coincidence, perhaps, these are mostly village people.

Particularly interesting is the image of Brigadier Tyurin, who ended up in the camp as the son of a dispossessed man. He is a "father" for everyone. The life of the entire brigade depends on how he closes the outfit: "Well, if he closed it, it means that now five days of rations will be good." Tyurin himself knows how to live, and thinks for others.

Kavtorang Buinovsky is also one of those “who take the blow”, but, according to Shukhov, often takes a pointless risk. For example, in the morning, during a check, the warders order them to unbutton their quilted jackets - "and they climb to feel if something is under the hood, bypassing the charter." Buinovsky, trying to defend his rights, received "ten strict days." The protest of the cavtorang is senseless and aimless. Shukhov hopes for only one thing: “The time will come, and the captain will learn to live, but he still doesn’t know how. After all, what is “Ten strict days”: “Ten days of the local punishment cell, if you serve them strictly and to the end, means losing your health for the rest of your life. Tuberculosis, and you can't get out of hospitals. "

Both Shukhov, with his common sense, and Buinovsky, with his impracticality, are opposed by those who avoid blows. Such is the film director Caesar Markovich. He lives better than others: everyone has old hats, but he has a fur one ("Caesar greased someone, and they allowed him to wear a clean new city cap"). Everyone is working in the cold, and Caesar is sitting in the office warmly. Shukhov does not blame Caesar: everyone wants to survive.

Caesar takes Ivan Denisovich's services for granted. Shukhov brings him lunch to his office: "Caesar turned around, stretched out his hand for the porridge, at Shukhov and did not look, as if the porridge itself had come by air." Such behavior, it seems to me, does not in the least decorate Caesar.

"Educated Conversations" is one of the hallmarks of this hero's life. He is an educated person, an intellectual. The cinema that Caesar is engaged in is a game, that is, a fake life. Caesar tries to distance himself from camp life, plays. Even in the way he smokes, “to arouse a strong thought in himself and let her find something,” artistry comes through.

Caesar loves to talk about cinema. He is in love with his work, passionate about his profession. But one cannot get rid of the thought that the desire to talk about Eisenstein is largely due to the fact that Caesar was sitting warm all day. He is far from the camp reality. He, like Shukhov, is not interested in "uncomfortable" questions. Caesar deliberately leaves them. What is justified for Shukhov is a disaster for the filmmaker. Shukhov sometimes even regrets Caesar: "I suppose he thinks a lot about himself, Caesar, and does not understand at all in life."

But Ivan Denisovich himself understands about life more than others with his peasant mentality, with a clear practical view of the world. The author believes that one should not expect and demand an understanding of historical events from Shukhov.

We need to pray for the spiritual: so that the Lord removes the evil scale from our hearts ...

A. Solzhenitsyn. One day of Ivan Denisovich

A. Solzhenitsyn deliberately made the main character of the story "One Day in Ivan Denisovich" as an ordinary peasant, who suffered a fate typical for many Russian people of the 20th century. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov was an economic and thrifty owner in a small village. When the war came, Shukhov went to the front and fought honestly. He was wounded, but did not heal, hastening to return to his place at the front. The share of Ivan Denisovich also fell into German captivity, from which he escaped, but as a result ended up in the Soviet camp.

The harsh conditions of a terrible world, fenced off by a barbed wire, could not break Shukhov's inner dignity, although many of his neighbors in the barracks had long since lost their human appearance. Having turned from a defender of the Motherland into a convict Sch-854, Ivan Denisovich continues to live according to those moral laws that have developed into a strong and optimistic peasant character.

There are few joys in the minute-by-minute daily routine of the camp prisoners. Every day the same thing: getting up on a signal, a meager ration that leaves even the leanest half-starved, exhausting work, constant checks, "spies", the complete lack of rights of convicts, the lawlessness of escorts and wardens ... And yet Ivan Denisovich finds the strength not to humiliate himself because of the extra rations, because of the cigarette, which he is always ready to earn by honest labor. Shukhov does not want to turn into an informer for the sake of improving his own lot - he himself despises such people. Developed self-esteem does not allow him to lick a plate or beg - the harsh laws of the camp are ruthless to the weak.

Belief in himself and unwillingness to live at someone else's expense make Shukhov refuse even the parcels that his wife could send him. He understood "what those programs are worth, and he knew that ten years from the family you couldn't pull them."

Kindness and mercy are one of the main qualities of Ivan Denisovich. He is sympathetic to prisoners who do not know how or do not want to adapt to the camp laws, as a result of which they endure unnecessary torment or miss out on benefits.

Ivan Denisovich respects some of these people, but he regrets more, trying to help and alleviate their fate if possible.

Conscientiousness and honesty in front of him do not allow Shukhov to feign illness, as many prisoners do, trying to escape work. Even after feeling serious discomfort and arriving at the medical unit, Shukhov feels guilty, as if he was deceiving someone.

Ivan Denisovich appreciates and loves life, but realizes that he is not able to change the order in the camp, injustice in the world.

The centuries-old peasant wisdom teaches Shukhov: “Grunt and rot. But if you rebuke, you will break, ”but, humbling himself, this person will never live on his knees and grovel before those in power.

The reverent and respectful attitude to bread is given out in the image of the protagonist as a true peasant. During the eight years of his life in the camp, Shukhov did not disaccustom himself to take off his cap before eating, even in the most severe frost. And in order to carry with him the remnants of the ration of bread left "in reserve", carefully wrapped in a clean cloth, Ivan Denisovich specially sewed an inner pocket on the quilted jacket in a secret way.

Love for work fills Shukhov's seemingly monotonous life with a special meaning, brings joy, allows him to survive. Not respecting the work of stupid and under compulsion, Ivan Denisovich at the same time is ready to take on any business, showing himself as a clever and skillful bricklayer, shoemaker, stove-maker. He is able to carve a knife from a fragment of a hacksaw, sew slippers or covers for mittens. Honest labor earnings not only gives Shukhov pleasure, but also gives him the opportunity to earn cigars or a ration supplement.

Even while working at the stage when it was necessary to quickly lay down the wall, Ivan Denisovich got so excited that he forgot about the fierce cold and the fact that he was working under duress. Thrifty and economical, he cannot allow cement to disappear or work to be abandoned in the middle. It is through this that the hero gains inner freedom and remains unconquered by the terrible conditions of the camp and the gloomy monotony of a wretched life. Shukhov is even able to feel happy because the ending day was successful and did not bring any unexpected troubles. It is precisely such people, according to the writer, who ultimately decide the fate of the country, carry the charge of national morality and spirituality.

“Here, guys, the law is the taiga. But people live here too. In the camp, this is who is dying: who licks the bowls, who hopes for the medical unit, and who goes to knock on the godfather ”- these are the three fundamental laws of the zone, told to Shukhov by the“ old camp wolf ”by Brigadier Kuzmin and since then strictly observed by Ivan Denisovich. "Licking bowls" meant topping up empty plates in the dining room for convicts, that is, losing human dignity, losing your face, turning into a "goner", and most importantly - falling out of the rather strict camp hierarchy.

Shukhov knew his place in this unshakable order: he did not strive to get into the "thieves", to take a higher and warmer position, however, he did not allow himself to be humiliated. He did not consider it shameful for himself “to sew a mitten cover for someone from an old lining; a rich brigadier should serve dry felt boots directly on the bed ... "and so on. However, Ivan Denisovich never asked to pay him for the service rendered: he knew that the work performed would be paid at its true worth, this is the basis for the unwritten law of the camp. If you start begging, groveling, it will not be far to turn into a "six", a camp slave like Fetyukov, whom everyone pushes around. Shukhov earned his place in the camp hierarchy by deeds.

He also does not hope for the medical unit, although the temptation is great. After all, hoping for a medical unit means showing weakness, feeling sorry for oneself, and self-pity corrupts, deprives a person of his last strength to fight for survival. So on that day, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov "got over it", and the remnants of the ailment evaporated at work. And as for "knocking the godfather" - to report on his own comrades to the head of the camp, Shukhov knew, in general the last thing. After all, this means trying to save yourself at the expense of others, alone - and this is impossible in the camp. Here, either together, shoulder to shoulder, to do a common servile deed, if absolutely necessary, interceding for each other (as the Shukhov brigade interceded at work for its foreman in front of the construction foreman Der), or - to live trembling for your life, expecting that you will be killed by your own people at night. same comrades in misfortune.

However, there were also rules that were not formulated by anyone, but nevertheless strictly observed by Shukhov. He firmly knew that it was useless to fight the system directly, as, for example, Kavtorang Buinovsky is trying to do it. The falsity of Buinovsky's position, refusing, if not to accept, then at least outwardly, to obey the circumstances, was clearly manifested when, at the end of the working day, he was taken to an ice punishment cell for ten days, which in those conditions meant certain death. However, Shukhov did not intend to completely obey the system, as if feeling that the entire camp order serves one task - to turn adults, independent people into children, weak-willed performers of other people's whims, in a word, into a herd.

To prevent this, you need to create your own little world, in which there is no access to the all-seeing eye of the overseers and their minions. Almost every prisoner had such a field: Caesar Markovich discusses art issues with people close to him, Alyoshka the Baptist finds himself in his faith, Shukhov tries, as far as possible, to earn himself an extra piece of bread with his own hands, even if it requires him sometimes and break the laws of the camp. So, he carries through a "shmon", a search, a hacksaw, knowing what threatens him with its discovery. However, you can make a knife from the canvas, with the help of which, in exchange for bread and tobacco, you can repair shoes for others, cut out spoons, etc. Thus, he remains a real Russian peasant even in the zone - hardworking, economic, skillful. It is also surprising that even here, in the zone, Ivan Denisovich continues to take care of his family, even refuses parcels, realizing how difficult it will be for his wife to collect this parcel. But the camp system, among other things, seeks to kill in a person this sense of responsibility for another, to break all family ties, to make the convict completely dependent on the order of the zone.

Labor occupies a special place in Shukhov's life. He does not know how to sit around, does not know how to work carelessly. This was especially vividly manifested in the episode of the construction of the boiler house: Shukhov puts his whole soul into forced labor, enjoys the very process of laying the wall and is proud of the results of his labor. Labor also has a therapeutic effect: it drives away malaise, warms, and most importantly - brings the members of the brigade closer together, restores them a sense of human brotherhood, which the camp system unsuccessfully tried to kill.

Solzhenitsyn also refutes one of the stable Marxist dogmas, at the same time answering a very difficult question: how did the Stalinist system succeed twice in such a short time - after the revolution and after the war - to raise the country from ruins? It is known that much in the country was done by the hands of prisoners, but official science taught that slave labor is unproductive. But the cynicism of Stalin's policy was that in the camps, for the most part, the best ended up - such as Shukhov, the Estonian Kildigs, cavtorang Buinovsky and many others. These people simply did not know how to work badly, they put their souls into any work, no matter how hard and humiliating it was. It was by the hands of the Shukhovs that the Belomorkanal, Magnitka, Dneproges were built, the country destroyed by the war was being restored. Torn away from families, from home, from their usual worries, these people devoted all their strength to work, finding their salvation in it, and at the same time unconsciously asserting the power of despotic power.

Shukhov, apparently, is not a religious person, but his life is consistent with most Christian commandments and laws. “Give us this day our daily bread,” says the main prayer of all Christians, “Our Father”. The meaning of these deep words is simple - you need to take care only of the essentials, being able to give up the necessary for the sake of the necessary and be content with what you have. Such an attitude towards life gives a person an amazing ability to rejoice in little.

The camp is powerless to do anything with the soul of Ivan Denisovich, and one day he will be released as a man unbroken, not crippled by the system, who has withstood the fight against it. And Solzhenitsyn sees the reasons for this steadfastness in the primordially correct life position of a simple Russian peasant, a peasant, accustomed to coping with difficulties, finding comfort in work and in those little joys that life sometimes gives him. Like the once great humanists Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, the writer urges to learn from such people the attitude to life, to stand up in the most desperate circumstances, to preserve your face in any situations.

Solzhenitsyn in his legendary work tells about a prisoner with number Shch-854, Stalin's post-war camp. There, it was not customary to address the prisoners by name, only by number. Although among themselves, or in the brigade, the prisoners had an unspoken rule to call by name, or, in extreme cases, by last name.

Many called Shukhov by name and patronymic. Although he was not an outstanding person, he was respected in his brigade and cell. How was the man different from the rest of the prisoners? The answer to this question is very simple - the man remained a man throughout the entire period. He always helped others as much as possible, but never asked anyone for help himself. Shukhov knew that "debt by payment is red", but he did not like to remain in debtors.

Before doing anything or going anywhere, the man tried to plan everything in advance. But, nevertheless, Shukhov always acted solely out of circumstances. Even going to the dining room alone could become a "fatal event" if the overseer noticed it. Therefore, the man was very careful and quick at the same time.

The man's lightning-fast reaction often saved him from hunger. If the chef at the distribution desk "gags" and does not have time to count how many plates have already been given out, then Shukhov, having realized, will certainly have time to hide two portions, for himself and the foreman.

But mostly self-respect, he earned, of course, with his work. He was well versed in carpentry, construction, sewed slippers for other prisoners and always had money with him, although it was forbidden to have it in the colony.

His wife stopped sending parcels to him, since he strictly forbade doing this. Ivan Denisovich understood that he had children at large, and he could not take the last away from them. The post-war years were the most difficult for everyone. Shukhov, if he wanted to, could earn for himself both tobacco and "increased rations", but he could not help the family in any other way.

What else helped him to remain human? Most likely, just a desire to live like a human being. He acted and treated others as he wanted to be treated. The man realized that if you approach everything with a certain positive, then life becomes better.

Yes, in captivity there are few reasons for joy, and yet Shukhov tried to find them. He was happy with each of his "small victories" and this also gave strength to his new "achievements".

Shukhov was a very thrifty and economical person, therefore he divided even the ration of bread allotted to him into small portions and consumed in several stages.

The man was also helped by his ingenuity. Therefore, when one day he found a piece of iron reinforcement, he did not throw it away, but risked carrying it into the cell. The man clearly planned how to do it, and he succeeded. He decided to make a knife out of iron. Any piercing or cutting objects are strictly prohibited. But sometimes even a prisoner cannot do without them.

So, with the help of his own dexterity, ingenuity and normal human relations, Shukhov was able not only to survive in the camp, but also not to lose his moral qualities.