Shukhov Rough Draft

The book begins on a cold winter morning in a Siberian labor camp. One of the prisoners, a man named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, starts his usually “normal” morning with a fever and some pain. Not feeling well at all, he hopes a nice guard is on duty and sleeps in a little bit. “In camp, the squad leader is everything: a good one will give you a second life; a bad one will put you in your coffin” (Alexander Tvardovsky 7). I picked this quote because the author pointed out how important it was to get a good leader. However, the odds were not in his favor, and he gets punished with three day in a solitary confinement cell. Shukhov does not take his punishment seriously when he realized that all he had to do was clean. After finishing his work and
In spite of the fact that they are not able to do so, the men attempt to keep the breeze out of the windows by covering them with tar paper. Shukhov works hard the whole time, with little to no errors. “You had to be wide awake all the time. Make sure a warder never saw you on your own, only as one of a crowd. He might be looking for somebody to do a job, or he might just want to take his spite out on you.” (Alexander Tvardovsky 94). I liked this quote because it showed the sturggle the prisoners had to face on a regular basis. Shukhov gets lucky again when he gets away with stealing a piece of steel during the body check. He then offers to receive a package of food for his friend Tsezar. He was awarded 400 grams of bread because he worked so hard that day. It is now time for all of the inmates to sleep. Shukhov celebrates how much bread he has, another stroke of luck. He then prays, while thank God for helping him survive another day. Alyoshka teaches him how to pray properly, and still in a good mood, Shukhov gives him some bread. He was content for once. “Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years” (Alexander Tvardovsky 139). This line in