One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Day 3 Group Presentation

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“There was a time when the camp commandant had issued yet another order: on no account were prisoners to walk about the camp on their own. Wherever possible, a squad was to go in-tact. . . . The camp commandant took a very firm stand on that order. No one dared contradict him. The guards picked up solitary prisoners, took down their numbers, yanked them off to the cells—yet the order was a flop. It flopped quietly, like many much-touted orders. . . . With that rule of his the commandant would have robbed them of their last shred of freedom, but it didn’t work out, much as he tried, the fat pig.”

• Theme — The illogicality of the Soviet regime. The Soviets attempt to control their citizens’ lives in a totalitarian manner to make them more productive—collective action is a corner-stone of communism—but is in the end despised and voided. The author’s use of described it as “another order” shows how there were many superfluous rules in the camp and in So-viet society. Also, the fact that the prisoners could not leave the camp but they are forced to travel in groups shows the superfluities of the Soviet regime. The commandant tries to rob the zeks of their last piece of freedom, similar to actions taken in the Soviet Union to control the citizens’ lives. Tone — The order’s failure is ascribed in negative tone, as the “fat pig[‘s]” attempt to “rob” their “freedom” is met with resentment.

• Symbol — The commandant is viewed as the Soviet leader (at this time, Stalin). He takes firm stances on seemingly superfluous orders, just like how Stalin ordered for the purging of millions of “enemies.” The commandant tries to take away the zeks’ freedom much like how Stalin attempted to create a totalitarian state to manage his citizens’ lives.

• Syntax — The short phrases connected by commas to show the swiftness of action taken by the guards. The dash after the succinct description of the prisoner’s capture shows the con-trast between what was expected to what actually happened.