Essay Comparing Night And One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

Throughout the novel “Night” by author Elie Wiesel and “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, readers are given a look at what it was like to live in the concentration camps and gulags during the time period of World War II. In Night, Wiesel focused on detailing the everyday struggles that men, women, and children had to endure while living in the concentration camps. However, in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn placed his focus on exactly what it says in the title – one day. Every event mentioned in the text happened in one single day and was used to give readers the impression that each day after that would consist of the same routines and triumphs. Although these novels are very similar, they both depicted themes – such as dehumanization and survival – in many different ways.
In Night, Wiesel described many incidents in which he and other members of the concentration camp

experienced dehumanization. For example, when the German troops invaded Sighet and many Jewish homes, they began to strip the Jews of almost everything that they owned. It was described in the novel that, “…the Hungarian police burst into every Jewish home in town: a Jew was henceforth forbidden to own gold, jewelry, or any valuables. Everything had to be handed over to the authorities, under penalty of death.” The Hungarian police robbed the Jews of everything and anything valuable that they owned. If a Jew did not want to give up his/her valuables, they could be killed on the spot.
Another way the Jewish experienced dehumanization in Night was the changing of the Jews names to numbers. Once the Jewish were settled in Auschwitz, they were given numbers to replace their names and would be called by those numbers from there on. Wiesel stated that, “The three ‘veteran’ prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.” The idea of tattooing these numbers on the Jews showed that the Germans had intended to permanently dehumanize the Jews. They believed that they were not worthy of their names any longer.
One final way that the Jews experienced dehumanization in Night was when they began to turn their backs on one another. On their way to a new camp, the SS men decided that all corpses need to be thrown out of the train to allow for more room. Surprisingly, Jews who were living were not mad or disgusted at this – in fact, they volunteered to help. It was said that “The volunteers undressed him and eagerly shared his garments. Then, two ‘gravediggers’ grabbed him by the head and feet and threw him from the wagon, like a sack of flour.” They were dehumanized because the Jews no longer cared for their own people. They even dehumanized the corpses by undressing them and throwing their naked bodies out of the train to lay in the snow.
Just as Wiesel described many incidents where dehumanization occurred, Solzhenitsyn in his novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, did as well. In the gulag, many of the members were treated like they were non-human. For example, just like Wiesel described in his novel, prisoners of the gulag were given a combination of letters and numbers assigned to them that were used to replace their names. Solzhenitsyn noted that Ivan Denisovich Shukhov’s name was replaced with the combination “S 854”. By doing this, the members of the gulag were stripped of their individuality, dignity, and personality.
Another way that Solzhenitsyn portrays dehumanization in his novel was by showing how the guards treated those in the gulag. For example, they would swear at the men and call them harsh names. One of the guards said to Shukhov, “Didn’t you ever watch your wife scrub the floor, pig?” By doing this, the guard not only reminded Shukhov that he no longer led a normal life with his wife, but also that he was looked at as like an animal of some sort – like he did not have any manners or sense of cleanliness. Overall, the guards of the gulag were not only physically abusive, but extremely verbally abusive.
Lastly, the people in the gulag were forced to work in harsh and severe weather conditions in order to help build the Soviet infrastructure. The inmates were allowed very little communication with the outside world – isolating them from their loved ones and leaving them extremely lonely. Although Eliezer was split up from half of his family in the concentration camp, he was still allowed to be with his father. However, Shukhov was not allowed really any communication with his family. In fact, he was so cut off from his wife that he admitted to not remembering what she was like anymore – he had forgotten all about her. In general, conditions in the gulag were very harsh and left inmates with the sense that they were alone, and always would be.
Although dehumanization was a large part of living in both the concentration camps and the gulags during World War II, the theme of survival was also present.

In Night, we see Eliezer and his family constantly put into positions where survival is the number one thing on their minds. When Eliezer and his family arrived in Auschwitz, they were greeted with one of the guards saying, “Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering.” Each day for this family, and many others, started out with just that – suffering. Each day they were faced with the struggle of if they were going to survive to see another day. Many times, Eliezer had to put all of his focus on himself and forget about the others – including his father – in order to make sure that he survived another day. He had to make sure that he kept up with the work that he was assigned to do and that he listened to everything the guards told him to do. Otherwise, Eliezer – as well as many of the other members of the concentration camp – knew that he would receive harsh

punishment.
Another example of survival in Night was when selection would occur in the camps. The process of selection consisted of the guards watching the men, women, and children run as fast as they could so they could pick out those who were the weaker links and then get rid of them. This was a very intense and stressful moment for those in the camps because they knew that if they wanted to survive, they needed to pass this test of selection. If one was to have their name/number written down, then they would be at risk. Wiesel noted that, “Those whose numbers had been noted were standing apart, abandoned by the whole world. Some were silently weeping.” These members of the camps knew that their time was coming to an end.
In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, readers are given a clear picture of what survival looked like in the gulags during World War II. Although Shukhov was not forced to move from camp to camp like Eliezer was, he did have to survive harsh weather conditions each day. Solzhenitsyn described that, “Yes, the cold was coming into its own now. No one stood quiet. They either stamped their feet where they stood or walked two or three paces back and forth.” In the gulag, Shukhov and the other zeks were constantly struggling with the freezing weather conditions. In Night, readers do not hear much about how the weather affected Eliezer and his family. But in One Day, Solzhenitsyn frequently mentions the freezing temperatures that Shukhov and the rest of the zeks worked in. The idea of having to stand still with their boots soaking up the wetness and cold from the snow was too much for them to handle. This is why they would make sure that they were in a constant state of movement in order to keep the blood, and the little warmth that they had, flowing throughout their bodies.
Besides freezing weather conditions, those in the gulag were always worrying about their next meal. To them, food was something that was extremely important. In Night, there is not as much focus on food as there is in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. For example, in One Day, the zeks were given a small amount of bread and kasha – which was like oatmeal. However, a lot of times the zeks were given food that was no longer hot. Also, because of the amount of other people the guards fed, there was not much left for the zeks. According to Solzhenitsyn, “...you’ll get no more than the damned authorities give you. And you don’t even get that – because of the cook and the ‘help’ and all the other trusties… They rob you here… you swing a pick and take what they give you.” The guards put the others first in order to make sure they were fed, yet they left the zeks – the ones who were doing all of the work – with empty stomachs and barely enough food for them to survive. Anytime Shukhov and the other inmates received food, they made sure to lick their bowls and plates clean in order to continue to survive another day.
One last way that survival is depicted in the novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is through the positive attitude that Shukhov maintains throughout. Although he began his day feeling ill, he pushed through and ended his day as content as possible. Shukhov realized that if he was going to survive, he needed to work hard, get enough rest, eat any meal he could get, and keep pushing forward. Solzhenitsyn described Shukhov’s day as, “A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day. There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail.” By including the numbers of days that Shukhov had left, Solzhenitsyn was trying to show readers that each day after that was going to be the exact same. That every day, Shukhov would have to endure harsh weather, scrape together any food he could get, continue his work, and get little sleep. However, if he was going to survive each day – Shukhov knew he would have to look at the positives and the things he accomplished.
In both Night and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, it was clear that the themes dehumanization and survival were present. Those in the concentration camp and the gulag were continuously dehumanized and made to believe that they were no good for anything other than completing the work they were given. Also, for those who lived in the concentration camp or in the gulag, there was always a focus on survival and how they would get through one day after another. Overall, each novel depicted the themes of dehumanization and survival in similar, yet different ways.