Communism Exposed in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Crime and Punishment

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Many of Man's struggles are usually the result of societal standards, control, and punishment. These struggles are present in both One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Through setting and internal monologue, both authors depict the effects of the brutalities of communism on Man's spirituality.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich demonstrates the brutalities of communism as symbolized by the brotherhood of men inside a forced labor prison camp in Siberia. The underlining theme of a Soviet backed camp system reflects both communism's contributing influence to the novellas internal monologue and setting. Not understanding the novella's present system of government would not give the reader a full appreciation of the text. The role of communism within this story is vital in both reading and understanding the novella. Further insight and discussion of communism?s influence seems without question, necessary.

Solzhenitsyn's first book, this economical, relentless novella is one of the most forceful artistic writings of political oppression in the Stalin-era Soviet Union. The simply told story in the setting of a typical, grueling day of the character's life in a labor camp in Siberia, is a modern classic of Russian literature and quickly cemented Solzhenitsyn's international reputation upon publication in 1962. It is painfully apparent that Solzhenitsyn himself spent time in the gulags.

He was imprisoned for nearly a decade as punishment for making criticizing statements about Stalin in a letter to a friend. This motif of communist oppression is reflected both in the authors life and, his writings in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

One Day in...

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...Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and Crime & Punishment carry underlining themes of communism in which the characters struggle within society based on the societal standards demanded of them. Without knowledge of communism?s influence, the reader cannot fully appreciate the meaning of both novels in Man?s struggle against a utilitarian foe or contributor. It would be the same as reading the Declaration of Independence, and not understanding the concepts of democracy, or the events leading up to such a revolt for liberty. I clearly see a relationship between the Soviet communist government and its influence in the writings of both novels. The brutalities of communism are clearly reflected in both novels through internal monologue and setting, which I personally believe are major contributing factors in the structure and development of the two novels as a whole.

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