Character Analysis: One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

Intro. To Religion
10 November, 2004
Modes of Existence When encountered with various experiences in life, a person is given the choice of how he or she will go about interpreting the experiences. Such interpretations are directly related to that individual's perception of life and its meaning, his or her mode of existence. This mode of existence provides the person with a reason to live, and, above all, dictates his or way of living within the world. Aesthetic existence and ethical existence are two such modes of existence. Although each of these provides the individual with some way of conducting his or herself in the world, neither provides the best interpretation of worldly experience, nor the best way of living. The aesthetic
mode of existence is centered around pleasing the self. Here, the pleasures are merely superficial and sensual. There is little to no thought involved in making decisions and taking action in the aesthetic individual's life. Instead, the emphasis is placed upon what is physically pleasing at the current moment. These types of people are often described as living for the moment. They frequently seek new thrills in order to remain in a constant state of enjoyment. This makes for a very frivolous and random character type. There is no direction or real movement in the aesthetic life. Instead, the aesthetic person seems to drift from pleasurable experience to the next. There is nothing meaningful in which to orient his or her place in existence. In other words, at the center of the aesthetic world, there lies nothing. Certain characteristics of aesthetic existence can easily be seen in the characters of the play, Tango, by Slawomir Mrozek. In the play, the characters' reality seems to be a confusion of past, present, and future- there is no sense of time. There is absolutely no order to things. Arthur, a young man, describes the aesthetic situation very accurately when he says, "No order, no sense of reality, no decency, no initiative. You can't move in this place, you can't breathe, you can't live…It's a fact that in this family there's no frame of reference at all. All that's left is bits and pieces, fragments, rubbish" (Tango, 22, 23). There is no concern for what has already happened, nor is there any for what is going to happen. Instead, the only thing that matters is the present, that which is happening right now. When reminded of the past, which had no place in her mode of aesthetic existence, Eleanor, Arthur's mother, is thrown into a state of confusion. "Just a minute. Let me figure it out. We were married in 1900...no, just let me think…Arthur was born in 1930, or…oh, be quiet, will you? Or was it 1940...You're getting me all mixed up…1914...1918...1921..."(Tango, 24,25). Specific historical events and dates in time have absolutely no meaning to Eleanor, nor to anyone that lives an aesthetic way of life. Furthermore, the primary law that dictaes the lives of the characters of Tango is the same as that of all aesthetic people. It is simply to do whatever is sensually pleasing at the present moment. "I know only one law: Don't hesitate, do whatever you feel like. Every man is entitled to his own kind of happiness" (Tango, 25). This means that, no matter what the consequences, the primary goal in life should be one's own happiness. Ethical existence provides an alternative to the aesthetic way of life. As opposed to aesthetic existence, which is centered around self enjoyment, ethical existence is centered around decency. It is the primary goal of the ethical person to be decent in everything that he or she does in life. The ethical person also has an obligation to the community in which he or she to show others this decency. This person makes a permanent choice to exercise decency. Furthermore, in the mode of ethical existence, human reasoning plays a crucial role. It is with reason, that the ethical person can decide what the decent response to a particular situation is. The ethical person is able to make such a decision, because he or she, naturally, has a general idea that there are both good and bad things in the world. This individual will, above all, always strive to choose the good over the bad in an attempt to lead a life of decency. The character, Holden Caulfield from the novel, The Catcher In the Rye provides a good example of ethical existence. In the novel, Holden, a rebellious and confused adolescent, treats the various people that he encounters with decency. No matter how rude, obnoxious, or cruel they may be, Holden is able to remain decent to those around him. He truly cares about how people are feeling and is always careful not to hurt anybody. Holden is even able to treat Ackley with decency. He describes Ackley, a schoolmate, as having "lousy teeth," disgusting eating habits, "a lot of pimples," and "a terrible personality." He even goes so far as to call him "a nasty guy" (Salinger, 19). Yet, even with all of his less desirable traits and habits, Ackley is still a human being. So, in order to act decently towards Ackley, Holden puts up with him and almost acts as a friend towards Ackley, even though, deep down, he is disgusted by Ackley's actions and appearance. This is seen, when Holden plans to go to a movie with a friend. Before they leave, Holden thinks of Ackley and the lonely night that he will have back at school. He is genuinely concerned about Ackley's feelings, and would rather see Ackley happy than save himself the trouble of putting up with him all night. "I asked Mal if he minded if Ackley came along with us. The reason I asked was because Ackley never did anything on Saturday night, except stay in his room and squeeze his pimples or something" (Salinger, 36). Holden's decency is further illustrated by his encounter with the bellboy at a hotel. "The bellboy that showed me in was this very old guy around sixty-five…Anyway, what a gorgeous job for a guy around sixty-five years old. Carrying people's suitcases and waiting around for a tip. I suppose he wasn't too intelligent or anything, but it was terrible anyway" (Salinger, 61). Not only is the old man performing manual labor, he is also forced to beg for his wages through tips. Holden sees the man's job as yet another cruel injustice in a world full of indecency. Shukhov, the main character in Solzhenitsyn's novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, also lives within the mode of ethical existence.
Shukhov is a prisoner at a Soviet forced labor camp. While there, he witnesses horrendous cruelties and injustices. However, although he struggles at times, Shukhov remains ethical; he remains decent. When being forced to build the brick wall of a power plant with his fellow prisoners, Shukhov does his best work. To Shukhov, the work is a reflection of his decency and worth as a human being. "But Shukhov never made a mistake. His bricks were always right in line. If one of them was broken or had a fault, Shukhov spotted it right off the bat and found the place on the wall where it would fit" (Solzhenitsyn, 111). Also, when it comes time for the prisoners to pick up the packages that they have received from home, Shukhov knows that there will not be a package for him. "Back in the Ust-Izhma days Shukhov had gotten packages a couple of times. But he wrote to his wife and told her not to send any more because there wasn't much left by the time it reached him…Though it was easier for Shukhov to feed his whole family back home than it was just to keep himself alive in the camp, he knew the price they paid for these packages and he knew he couldn't go on taking the bread out of their mouth for ten years. So he'd rather do without" (Solzhenitsyn, 154). Shukhov values the lives of others over his own life. He would rather die
than cause his family to go hungry. This is a stark contrast from the attitude of many of the other prisoners at the camp. "He was standing in line with these people who were keeping their bellies happy with the hope they'd soon be sinking their teeth into a chunk of fatback, eating their bread with butter, and sweetening their tea with sugar" (Solzhenitsyn, 155). Unlike Shukhov, these men do not take into consideration the sacrifices that their families must make in order to send them such packages. Instead, they are concerned with themselves, and with their own hunger. Although the aesthetic and ethical modes of existence do provide for a seemingly functional way of life, there is no room in these modes for some of the most crucial aspects of the human experience.
Three of these crucial aspects are: human purpose, death, and
love. Neither mode of existence successfully acknowledges why humans were created, and what their primary purpose in the world is. In aesthetic existence, the only purpose that can be found is to simply enjoy oneself, like the characters in Tango, no matter what. This is a purely superficial purpose and does not sufficiently answer the question. Ethical existence, on the other hand, might lead one to believe that the sole purpose of human beings is to be decent to one another. This is a more meaningful answer to the question of purpose than that of aesthetic existence. However, it only scratches the surface of what is really at stake in human existence. Something crucial is still missing. Like with the question of human purpose, these two modes of existence also fail make room for death, and inevitable part of the human experience. Death is a contradiction of both the aesthetic way of life, as well as the ethical way of life. It is unpleasant, which does not follow the aesthetic law of continuous happiness. Also, aesthetics do not think about the future. They are concerned only with the present and, therefore, fail to think about their impending deaths. Death is also completely indecent, which is why there is no room for it in ethical existence either. When death occurs, people are hurt by it. It does not take into consideration the feelings of those who are impacted by the death. It does not make sense. Death seems very unfair, and comes to both the young and the old. Human reason cannot stop it, not even understand it. This is exactly how Holden Caulfield feels about death, and particularly about the death of his little brother, Allie. He does not understand why someone as young and wonderful as his brother had to die. It just isn't fair. Holden is also worried about what happens to the deceased. This concern is reflected in his warped fascination with the burial and preservation techniques of the ancient Egyptians. In one of his exam papers, Holen writes, "Modern scientists would still like to know what the secret ingredients were that the Egyptians used when they wrapped up dead people so that their faces would not rot for innumerable centuries" (Salinger, 11). Also, Holden demonstrates this type of concern by worrying about the ducks in Central Park. "…I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over" (Salinger, 13). Ethical existence simply provides Holden with no explanation as to what happens after death. Although it does have a place within ethical existence, love is yet another contradiction to the mode of aesthetic existence. True love cannot exist in the aesthetic world of temporary, superficial pleasures. Instead, love endures through both the best and worst of times. It is not always pleasant. There are times when sacrifices must be made, and ones own happiness must be set aside for the well being of the other person. This is what Eleanor does for her husband, Stomil in Tango. She actually goes against her own desires, and has an affair, because she thinks that this pursuit of sexual freedom will make Stomil happy. In reality, Stomil, just like Eleanor, is deeply saddened by the situation (Mrozek, 79, 80). Although it does not have a place in aesthetic existence, love is a very real part of the human experience.