Cancer Ward and Alexander
Solzhenitsyn
Backgrounds
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Solzhenitsyn was released from a
a specialized prison in Marfino for
inmates who performed
mathematical and scientific
research in 1953 and was exiled
to a village in Kazakhstan to a
forced labor camp. The village
was called Kok-Terek. There he
developed stomach cancer and
was operated on for a tumor and
kept from knowing his diagnoses.
During his stay in Kok-Terek he
wrote in secret and by the age of
42 had a large collection of
writings but had published
nothing. After his release from a
hospital in Tashkent and a year
after Khrushchev was appointed
Soviet primier (1961) One Day in
the Life of Ivan Denisovich was
published in Novyi Mir.
Settings, Characters, and Plot
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Ward 13 in a hospital in South Central Asia in the U.S.S.R. in 1955
Pavel Rusanov-(antagonist)
 Communist Party leader with a neck tumor;
 Wife;s name is Kapitolina
 Framed a friend for a crime against the government and sent
him to a gulag in order to attain power
 “Loves his country, but hates its people”
 hypocrite
Setting
Settings, Characters, and Plot

Oleg Kostoglotov-(protagonist)
 former gulag prisoner and
exile living in Kazakhstan with
a stomach tumor
 Believes in right of choice in
terms of cancer treatment
 Solzhenitsyn based
Kostoglotov on himself and his
own experiences
 Doesn’t like Rusanov
Settings, Characters, and Plot
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Ludmilla Dontosova-head of radiation therapy; Kostoglotov often
argues with her to stop his treatment
Vera Gangart- radiologist and love interest of Kostoglotov
Zoya-young medical student; supplies Kostoglotov with literature
about his disease which is against policy
Yevgenia Ustinovna-senior surgeon
Efrem Podduyev-a pessimistic, patient with cancer of the tongue
Vadim Zatsyrko-a young geologist with terminal cancer
Asya- young female patient, who is interested in Western culture
Settings, Character, and Plot
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Most of the story takes place in the cancer ward of a provincial,
Soviet government. Solzhenitsyn introduces the scene from the
perspective of Pavel Rusanov, a Soviet party leader. The book’s
main character however, is Kostoglotov, a former prisoner living in
exile living in Ush-Terek a village in Kazakhstan.
Moving mainly in dialogue, the book features Soviet citizens of
different ethnicities, characteristics and social classes. Their
opinions on the Soviet system, “the cult of personality” and cancer
itself are discussed.
Through the characters of Rusanov and Kostoglotov, Solzhenitsyn
presents two feuding points of view existing in the Soviet system.
Kostoglotov being the protagonist he most clearly represents the
good side while Rusanov represents the oppressive injustice of the
U.S.S.R.
Symbols

Kostoglotov- acts as a symbol for Solzhenitsyn himself. Because
of his role in the novel it becomes a type of semi-autobiographical
piece of literature. Like Solzhenitsyn, Kostoglotov was imprisoned
for critizing the government and Stalin. He also develops stomach
cancer and must be operated. Solzhenitsyn’s views on medical
treatment are discussed as views of Kostoglotov as well.

Rusanov- represents the people who imprisoned Solzhenitsyn: “if
he was exiled, he must have done something.” Rusanov himself sold
out an old friend and sent him to the camps in order to gain a
better position for himself. Rusanov and his family also represent
the hypocrisy of the Russian Soviet system.
Symbols

Cancer- represents
Communism itself. It affects
everyone with out
discrimination and kills people
slowly
 Patients have no choice in
treatment, and many times
do not even know they
have it, or what it is that
they have
Symbols
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Ludmilla Dontosova – unquestioning doctor who
treats patients with therapy just as deadly as cancer
itself; metaphor for minor Soviet officers
Zoya and Vera Gangart- metaphor for Russian
women who have suffered through generations of war
and loss
Asya- teenage concerned with sex and rock and roll
(Western influeneces)
Vadim- young professional, intellectual who is capable
of being swayed in either way, but has not yet
discovered his ideals
Themes
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Communism- injustices that
exist: Pavel and wife are
members of the party but are
anti-worker and anti-”real
people”; they don’t live in
communal homes, etc.

Spreads to all people and
“infects” with out prejudice
creating a vapid society
devoid of life and art
Themes
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Death/Cancer- the most obvious conflict in the book, eventually is
something all characters must deal with; torments each
character, from doctors to patients who must deal with it
Ethics- Main conflict between Dontosova and Kostoglotov. Should
patients have the right to deny treatments? Represents the power
people do not have over their own lives
Hope- throughout all their hardships, the people all hold on to the
idea that they will live to see another day. When Kostoglotov is
discharged, he searches for a tree that grows a certain fungus
which can cure cancer when brewed in tea (chaga).
Themes

Ethics- Main conflict between Dontosova and Kostoglotov. Should
patients have the right to deny treatments? Represents the power
people do not have over their own lives

Hope- throughout all their hardships, the people all hold on to the
idea that they will live to see another day. When Kostoglotov is
discharged, he searches for a tree that grows a certain fungus
which can cure cancer when brewed in tea (chaga).
Conclusions
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A some what depressing book that leaves the
reader with belief that all hope is in vain.
Presents a unique view of Soviet life and
society.
The End