Cultural and Contextual Considerations One Day in the...

During our interactive oral, we discussed the cultural and contextual considerations of the work One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich written by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn. The subjects referred to where the importance of time and place, setting, and culture. During our discussion, it was easily recognized that time and place held great significance. With the novel being set over a time period of one day, it supports many elements of the story. For example, the time period really seems to drag and it takes forever for one day to pass. The time setting also helps create a foundation for the mood and tone. For example, since the time of one day seems to drag on, it adds the effect of a very slow and depressing life for the prisoners.†¦show more content†¦It is explained throughout the different periods that they live their lives day to day and still have hope for the best and pray. Faith and religion has a significance of showing that some prisoners still have hope and something to believe in. These topics are obviously shown throughout the novel and all have great significance. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn developed a first-hand experience when he was thrown in a Soviet Union labor camp called the Gulag. This experience influenced him to write his work, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, for the intentions of raising an awareness of the Soviet Union forced labor camp system. As the title advocates, the novel follows a lingering time period of one day and conveys a glimpse at what life was like in a Soviet Union labor camp from the point of view of the prisoners. Solzhenitsyn uses the setting to impact the effectiveness of the mood within the work, which is reflected through the characters. In the work, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn uses the historical setting to relieve his criticisms about Soviet totalitarianism. In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn presents the setting by using simplistic vocabulary to set up the novel’s grim mood. This is important as the novel uses straightforward narration that gives the context of the novel by discussing the setting: As usual, at five o’clock that morning reveille was sounded by the