Ivan Denisovich

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The book I chose to do my book report on is "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". The book is about the most forceful indictments of political oppression in the Stalin era Soviet Union. It is a captiving story about the life in a Siberian labor camp, related to the point of view of Ivan Denisovich, a prisoner. It takes place in a span of one day, "from dawn till dusk" (pg. 111) . This book also describes his struggles and emotional stress that he must going through.
This book explains a single day in Ivan Denisovichs live in a Siberian prison camp. The story is taking place during Joseph Stalin’s Red Terror program between 1945 and 1953. But I think this specific day is in no case different from any other ones of his possible 25 year prison term.
Actually the story does not have a clear plot, but it describes each event of one day. Unordinary seems to be ordinary. By using each specific detail, he enables the reader to get a reliable visual picture. It’s a review of a day in a prison camp. And especially orders play an important rule in a prisoners life. It begins with "‘Sleep’s over’ " (pg. 37), after that "the escort began shouting: ‘ Get a move on ! ‘ (pg. 41)". The prisoners must work "11 hours" inside a power station, "slapping in some […] mortar" (pg. 95). This punishment is being interrupted by "magara […] that damned ‘Chinese’ oatmeal " (pg. 29). Finally in the evening the prisoner must "bear in the icy wind" (pg. 123), while the guards are looking for a Moldavian Fugitive. At the end some couple of hours remain until 22:00 for the prisoners own life.
Shukhov, alias Ivan Denisovich is the protagonist in the book. He is instructing his squad 104th and serving as a squad leader. "Shukhov know how to manage anything. When you worked for the knowing you gave them quality, […] (else) an eyewash " (pg. 26). And " That’s what a squad (leader) is. A guard can’t get people to […] work […], but a squad leader can...