... one escaped the brutality of the Stalinist era, and Solzhenitsyn's attempt to document a day in the life of one prisoner was accepted as a realistic rendering of many other days in the lives of many other people. Already, early on in the book, the characters have been reduced to numbers and parts of greater numbers: Ivan Denisovich is addressed by the number on his shirt-tag, and he identifies himself and the other prisoners by the numbers of their regiments. The narrative begins with a statement of the time of day ... , and the ... ...

• Word Count: 1884
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School