Comparing Suffering in Crime and Punishment and One Day in the Life :: comparison compare contrast essays

Suffering in Crime and Punishment and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Survival trough suffering is a general theme running through the novels. Different forms of survival occur because in different scenarios. In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the story takes place in a prison camp, whereas in Crime and Punishment takes place in society. During the course of the two novels, it becomes quite apparent to the reader that some characters have a reason that helps them drive forward through times of suffering. The types of suffering are differentiated for each character and so is their own individual way of tolerating the pain. For example, in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the main character, Shukov, suffers due to the harshly cold conditions that he has to deal with in the prison camp. In Crime and Punishment, the main character, Raskolnikov, suffers from his guilt which he induces on himself when he realises that killing the old moneylender was wrong. Therefore, this essay is similar to an investigation into how the main characters of each novel manage to cope with each of their individual sufferings. In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the main character, Shukov, is coping with a tremendous amount pain. "But try and spend eight years in a ' special'- doing hard labour. No-one's come out of a 'special' alive." This shows how severe the conditions are as no-one has ever lasted a mere eight years. "A couple of hundred grams ruled your life." Here, he tells the reader that a few hundred grams of bread would determine a man's life in that camp showing how little food is given to the prisoners. He is forced to live and work in conditions that would repulse the average person today. "The belly is a rascal. It doesn't remember how well you treated it yesterday , it'll cry out for more tomorrow." The way these people were treated were inhumane and intolerable, yet Shukov continued to survive. Work was used as a distraction from thinking about his pains, problems and family. Physical labour was one of two elements of Shukov's life that help him survive. "And now Shukov and the other masons felt the cold no longer. Thanks to the urgent work, the first wave of heat had come over them.