One life in the life of Ivan Denisovich
Deep Bagri
Setting
One life in the life of Ivan Denisovich written by Solzhenitsyn is set in a labour camp in
Siberia (Russia). The camp consists of a mess hall, hospital, barracks for the prisoners, offices
and rooms for the guards. The camp is protected by fencing, barricades and watchtowers. The
watchtowers are located outside the camp which add additional security to prevent prisoners
from escaping. The setting also takes place in a special camp ran by chief administration of
corrective labour camps, known as gulag. Moreover, the climate in the area is extremely cold and
chilly winds. Abundant snowfall during the winter is also evident in the area. The prisoners have
little protection and are poorly equipped to fight the icy temperature. They work long hours in
the freezing temperatures, both inside and outside the camp. to decrease the effects of the cold
weather. There is insufficient of food (bread and gruel) given to them.
Weather

Brings plentiful of hardships for the prisoners as the weather is very cold and intolerable
condition. Creates an atmosphere of hopelessness, coldness, evokes feeling of tiredness and
despair.
Pg 1 "It was cold and the warder didn't feel like going on banging."
Pg 3 "How could anyone get warm here, with the ice piled up on the window and a white
cobweb of frost running along the whole barracks where the walls joined the ceiling?" (Can be
compared to the discomfort of Winston's home)
Pg 8 "It was freezing cold, with a fog that caught your breath."
Pg 25 "The prisoners-they were...to protect them from cold."
Pg 30 "He wouldn't waste his breath on him in this cold."
Mess Hall/Canteen

This is the place where the prisoners eat.

The canteen can be compared with the Ministry of Truth in 1984 characterizing Winston.
Pg 15 "It was cold sitting in the mess hall and most of the men ate with their caps on."
Pg 80 "The mess hall on the working site was just a wooden shack with a stove in the middle."
Pg 81 "The rule was that you had to eat inside the mess hall."
The Sky (Darkness) Moon

The prisoners distinguish the times during the day between the sun and moon. Brings the day
to an end so they can sleep. The temperatures also cool down further at night.
Pg 18 "The sky was dark as ever, and the stars were blotted out by the camp lights."
Pg 30 "It was still dark, though the sky in the east was getting bright and looked kind of green."
Pg 138 "The moon was really shining bright."
Pg 140 "It looked sort of eerie...the moon gleaming on the snow."
Pg 150 "The moon was going up higher all the time and the nigh cold was getting stronger."
Pg 127 "The moon had come up full and it looked all purple."
Pg 138 "The moon was really shining bright. It wasn't purple anymore and it was way up by
now."
Pg 173 "The moon was way up now. It was all white and clear and looked like it had been cut
out of the sky."
Pg 190 "The moon was real high up now...The sky was pale-and sort of greenish."
The Sky (Sun)

Helps the prisoners determine the time during the day. It also brings warmth for prisoners
and the area.
Pg 49 "The big, red sun, sort of covered in mist , was slanting through the wires of the gate."
Pg 52 "The sun came up, red and hazy, over empty compound."
Pg 70 "The sun was higher now, the haze had gone, and there was no sign of those funny posts."
Pg 119 "The sun was going down. It was all red and there was a kind of gray haze around it."
Pg 73 "It was clear, and by the sun it was almost noon."
Barracks

Adds to the setting because this is where Shukhov lives.
Pg 187 "Long as you were in the barracks you thanked your lucky stars."
Pg 179 "The guy with the packages had to give something to his warder, his gang boss, and the
trusty in his barracks."
Power plant

Bricklaying and building walls was another job the prisoners did. It was the workplace for
the prisoners. It also shows how his workplace was like.
Pg 65 "The power plant was on a rise and it was right at the edge of the compound. No one had
been in the power plant for a long time, and snow all around it was unmarked."
Pg 52 "Everybody was out of sight-all but the six sentries standing on the watchtowers and the
men bustling around the office.
The Site
Pg 62 "This site was really big . It took a while to get across it."
Hospital
Pg 20 "The corridor in the hospital was so clean-it always was-that he was scared to walk along
it. The walls were painted a shiny white, and the furniture was all white as well."
These various aspects contribute to setting in the novel. They all play a different role during the
course of the novel. Weather remains the same throughout the novel. Mess Hall is a place where
all the prisoners eat their meals during the day. The atmosphere of the hall is really cold and
many prisoners keep their cap on whereas, Shukhov takes his cap off because he is a civilized
human. These various aspects also contribute to the setting. The sky helps the soldiers determine
the timing of the day. Sky is mentioned abundantly in the novel. I think Solzhenitsyn does this to
show the hard work of the prisoners during the day and how they rely on the sky for the day to
end. Settings shows the descriptions of the outside environment, sun imagery, emphasis on the
harsh cold and the camp surroundings. Lastly, these various aspects of setting are very important
to the novel because they show the reader the setting of the camp.
Setting in 1984
1984 written by Orwell is set in Oceania (Air Strip One). The story was originally written in
1949 and is set 35 years into the future to show the picture of a modern society in 1984. Freedom
and human spirit have been crushed by the Party's rules. "Freedom is slavery" is enforced among
the people. Orwell has created a real war torn community who have no freedom. Furthermore,
the political structure of Oceania is divided into the three sections: the Proles, the Inner Party and
the Outer Party. The Proles are the working class, the Inner Party rules everyone and the Outer
Party consists of workers. By dividing the community into three sections, he shows the division
between the society and ones struggle to get ahead. Overall, the story is about Winston's struggle
to get his freedom but strict rules have been placed in Oceania by the Party.
Major places of setting in 1984
Ministry of love - Center which tortures and uses brainwashing techniques to reform the person
who betrayed the party's rules.
Mr. Charrington's secret room - This is the place where Winston and come to make love and hide
from the constant watch of the Party.
Oceania - Rule the world using terror and restriction on freedom and beliefs. It is a superpower
that rules the people and their minds.
Golden Country- Julia and Winston meet here and have sexual intercourse.
Weather

Cold weather in London.
Pg 3 " It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen."
The Proles

For many proles a lottery was the reason for remaining alive. Being a lower class, they would
receive enormous prizes in a lottery.
Pg 89 "The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to
which the proles paid serious attention."
The Golden Country (Place where Winston and Julia meet)

The field they go to have sexual intercourse.
Pg 130 "A landscape I've seen sometimes in a dream."
Jail

Winston broke the rules of the Party and was sent to jail. Here he was constantly monitored
by four telescreens.
Pg 237 " If you made unexpected movements they yelled at you from the telescreen."
Room 101

It tortures the person who commits a false act. This is the worst place a person can go to and
is the worst nightmare or phobia. A room in the Ministry of love.

Winston is sent to room 101.
Pg 209 "Room 101, he said."
Both works
Both the works take place in an urban area. 1984 takes place in London while Ivan Denisovich
takes place in Siberia. There is more that can be done to a plot with an urban area. In my opinion,
many events, settings can take place in an urban area. A rural area doesn't offer a complete
package for certain novels. In 1984, we see there are buildings, choppers, cars, parades,
telescreens and other electronics that help the Party control the people. In Ivan Denisovich, there
isn't a lot urbanized setting. It could be because the authors shows the lives of prisoners in a
labour camp in Siberia. All in all, Orwell uses an urbanized setting for 1984 because the
technology helps to keep an eye on people whereas, in Ivan Denisovich, the prisoners are in a
labour camp.
Class Discussion Questions:
1. What can be said about the weather in 1984 and how can it be related to Ivan Denisovich?
 Both the setting are cold which leads to an intolerable condition in 1984 and Ivan
Denisovich. Winston is fed up by the Party's control over people and the prisoners are
fed up due to harshness of the cold weather.
2. What is the significant of the cold weather in 1984 and Ivan Denisovich?
 Cold weather evokes feeling of tiredness in Ivan Denisovich. It is difficult for the
prisoners to work in the harsh conditions. They receive low quantities of hot food
(gruel 3 times a week). In my opinion, the cold weather in 1984 could bring hardships
for the proles. They lack money and have a hard time providing themselves with
winter clothing. Maybe the cold weather and indoor life affects the proles.
3. List the elements of setting that contribute to the Ivan Denisovich and 1984.
 Elements like the weather, sky, sun and moon imagery, camp surroundings, mess
hall, barracks, power plant all contribute to Ivan Denisovich.
 Mr. Charrington's rented room, Ministry of love, Oceania, Room 101 contribute to
the setting in 1984.
4. Did Solzhenitsyn use any elements that are odd and necessarily don't fit in the novel.
 The hospital in Ivan Denisovich that provides care for the prisoners. "The corridor in
the hospital was so clean- it always was-that he was scared to walk along it. The walls
were painted a shiny white, and the furniture was all white as well" (pg 20). I
personally found this odd because Solzhenitsyn creates the hospital into the same
hopeless setting as the other parts of the camp.
Conclusion
The setting established by Solzhenitsyn is similar to that of Orwell. Both the novels talk about a
cold setting and create a atmosphere of discomfort and harshness. The protagonists eat in a same
place with many people, struggle with their work and face terrible treatment. Shukhov hides
bread in his clothing and Winston tries to locate some bread crumbs in his pocket in jail. Winston
was always imprisoned in the novel as he had no freedom and the Party had placed many
restrictions upon people. Shukhov is a prisoner in a camp and Winston also becomes a prisoner
when he goes to jail. The authors create a mental image of the protagonists surroundings that
evoke a sense of hardship and tiredness. Looking at their dreadful conditions and hardships,
setting brings the reader closer to the protagonist. To conclude, the setting in Solzhenitsyn's and
Orwell's work run parallel to each other in plentiful of ways and setting is one aspect that helps
the reader to understand the relationship between these two works.