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Ivan Denisovich Food

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In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shows how Soviet prisoners, known as Zeks, are treated while being in the gulag for one day through the eyes of the protagonist and omniscient narrator named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Despite being in an environment such as the Soviet Union, where there is harsh tundra and not much food to eat, Shukhov tries to make good use of what he has received while trying to keep himself alive. The purpose of Solzhenitsyn’s portrayal of food is to show its overall significance and that it is used as a means of trade and survival. Over time, the power of food reveals its significance to the Zeks and especially to Shukhov and food allows both groups understanding towards the necessity of food for their vitality and well-being additionally.
In the beginning of the novel, Solzhenitsyn introduces food when he mentions: “The ones that don’t make it are those who lick other men’s leftovers, those who count on the doctors to pull them through, and those who squeal on their buddies.” (Denisovich, 4) This was a statement articulated by a veteran of twelve years, Kuziomin, who tells the prisoners that they would not survive if it solely depended on other men’s leftovers. Readers initially assume that Solzhenitsyn figuratively stated or used a hyperbole to say that the prisoners lick the other men’s leftovers. This however was true because of the prison system and the strict rules of working for an earning which is, in the

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