Ivan Denisovich Shukhov

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov

The wind whistles by as he steps out on the snow. It crunches beneath his feet. He shudders. Its seventeen below outside and the sun isn't up yet. In the distance, men march and line up in fives. Guards circle the men as a beast circles its prey, with no forgiveness or mercy. He is in no mood to work, as his stomach still yurns for food and the thought that he still has to face a day's hardship filled with work, orders, and the harsh cold begins to set in his mind. Hope and any means of happiness are lost. He starts to walk out, trying to avoid any trouble, keeping his thoughts to himself; minding his own business. He reaches his place and stands appropriately in line, again, trying not to make any mistakes. He hears whispers and chatter all around. His eyes elevate from the ground searching the premises to see what's going on. The head guard ridiculously ordered the men to take off their jackets in the cold to be searched. With no say or power in this, the men accept their "orders" and reluctantly remove their warm outer covering; the only thing between them and the cold had to be removed. The day had just become even worse. Men like these were no ordinary men, but they were Zeks, prisoners of the gulag in Russia up in Siberia. A man, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, was capable of surviving this horror thanks to his civilized guidelines and his strenuous work habits; his ways earned him respect as an individual in a society full of other Zeks and as an individual who's part of a squad. His survival became inevitable.

To get placed in this gulag, for some, was like a death sentence, while for others it was like a challenge; a goal that was to be achieved; a summit to be conquered; an opponent t...

... middle of paper ...

...ng him in his own survival.

Shukhov was truly the perfect man in an unfair world in which he possessed all the possible traits required for his own survival. The reality comes down to is not everyone is going to possess these skills and they can't all act the way he did in the society of zeks or within their own squads. To be like Shukhov is not an easy task, but through the different combination of proper communication and quick thinking within ones' squad and within the society of zeks, survival can be achieved; without the competition, survival would not be ensured as people like Shukhov would go above and beyond to make sure that they got all the good things. So, what it really comes down to is that competition (appropriate competition) in reality is what truthfully does ensure and bring about survival.

All Information was from Ivan Denisovich Shukhov book