A man in despair
In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, prison camps are a brutality to which a person simply has no choice but to adjust. As the environment changes, a person must adapt as well. One needs to maintain satisfaction, concern for others, and dignity (Lee). For any prisoner this establishes a difficult task, especially for Fetiukov whose stretch harms him emotionally and physically; the forces of hardship deny him rights and play a role in destroying his human dignity. Fetiukov dissolves into a broken man as a result of the Siberian labor camp; his self-respect, integrity, and morality have evaporated from his character.First, the will to survive lies in a man whose self-respect seems lower than his fellow inmates. Fetiukov, a troubled prisoner, searches for solace in his present situation. He has no self- respect for himself; he shows that prisoners cannot always adjust to sociological changes. Fetiukov has no pride; he will stare in a man's mouth and not even feel shameful. "Fetiukov, that jackal, had come up closer too and now stood opposite Tsezar, watching his mouth with blazing eyes," (536). Most other prisoners would ever lower himself like that; he would never stare at a man's
A matter of survival keeps the men, both the prisoners and the guards, working. In a prison, work, honesty and compassion for each other lead to the only means of survival. Under such conditions the idea of survival of the fittest holds true; those who are strong will survive at the expense of the weak. Fetiukov, clearly the weakest prisoner, cannot survive without his self-respect, his integrity and his morality fades away as a result of the Siberian labor camp. . "He was sobbing, all hunched up, his mouth smeared with blood. So he'd been beaten up again-over the bowls" (598). He never makes an attempt to hide his tears. Fetiukov shows no mercy in hiding his sneaky, cantankerous, and worthless behavior; he shows no mercy in trying to change himself. Only the other prisoners see that Fetiukov's worthless behavior will not let him survive to the end of his stretch. Most startlingly, Fetiukov shows bad morality towards his associates. He persists with his foolishness and stupidity. His behavior remains shocking; he continues with no self-importance. "Fetiukov had the last place in the squad, lower than Shukhov's" (536). He presents himself as the kind who would sit and hold another prisoner's bowl for him. Also, "Fetiukov was the sort who when he was looking after someone else's bowl took the potatoes from it," (537). However,
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Approximate Word count = 1577
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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