Tuesday, June 26, 2012
"One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1st Thoughts).
I cannot imagine having to live in a "work camp" in Soviet Russia. The men that were forced to endure such tormented lives must have been some very hard men. What I found interesting was the life lessons that are learned in such conditions. For instance, Shukhov's inclination to hide and stash his food struck me as a natural instinct that people experience in tough situations. Shukhov showed many signs that he was going to be able to serve out his term and make it through, however. For example, he always seemed to assess each situation differently and devise a plan to enable him to extract as much benefit out of it as possible. Due to this attitude, Shukhov was able to endure and live on.
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I also think that he was able to live so well there becuase of his imagination and the way that he looked at each situation. He would see people who weren't sick get away with it, but when it came to him being sick and he wasn't, he decided to just go on. Although this was not a very "exciting" book to read, we cna learn some lessons. Such as not taking life and the things we have for granted. He talks about hiding food, making a spoon and grabbing a piece of metal to make a knife. All of this done so he could live a little better in the poor conditions.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that Shukov, and his whole squad (with the exception of a few), have a fantastic work ethic. I believe it was definitely driven by the return that they would get, which was usually food, but nonetheless, they still worked hard. They worked until the last minute that day and Shukov moreso than the others. I think he is a smart man, knows how to hid what he needs to survive, but looks after the well-being of his squad also. It just shows that he has good character and integrity, regardless of the "crimes" he was found guilty of.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that he even thought to sew up the bread inside his mattress. He certainly did think of everything! But, I'm certain that the things we read came about from the previous years' learning curve and watching others, learning from them, too.
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