One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Shukhov runs to the mess hall and joins the rest of his squad, the 104th, who are eating a breakfast of thin fish, black cabbage soup, and magara, a type of oatmeal. Fetuikov, a squad member with a bad attitude, begrudgingly passes over Shukhov’s bowl. Although the food has grown cold, Shukhov eats mindfully. He returns his spoon to his boot then heads to the dispensary. On the way, he hides from the Tartar, and he briefly considers visiting “the Lett” for tobacco. Kolya Vdovushkin, the medical assistant, is sitting in the dispensary copying a poem. Shukhov explains that he feels ill. Vdovushkin says Shukhov should have reported sick the day before, but Shukhov felt fine then. Vdovushkin is allowed to excuse two prisoners from work each morning, which he has already done. Shukhov sits with a thermometer under his arm, feeling uncomfortable in the sterile environment. He notices that his uniform numbers need to be touched up, and he fantasizes about falling ill and getting to spend a few weeks in the hospital, even though the doctor, Stepan, would still force him to work. Vdovushkin checks the thermometer, which reads 99.2 degrees, and says he can’t excuse Shukhov from work; Shukhov can wait for the doctor but will likely be found fit to work and subsequently punished. He returns to the barracks to wait with his squad for their workday to begin.

Shukhov runs to Pavlo to collect his bread and sugar ration for the day. He lets the sugar sit in his mouth and divides his bread into two chunks, storing one in his pocket and sewing the other into his sawdust mattress. Alyosha, a fervent Baptist, reads aloud from the Bible while Shukhov finishes hiding the bread and grabs his mittens and spare foot rags. Tiurin calls the squad out of the barracks, and Shukhov dresses quickly and follows the others out into the cold, dark morning.

Tiurin successfully bribed the guards, so the 104th is assigned to work on a power station in “the column” instead of in the Socialist Way of Life Settlement. The squad consists of 24 prisoners but one, Panteleyev, is out sick; however, the squad knows that is a cover and that he is “squealing” on someone. Shukhov pushes through the crowd to have his numbers—S 854—repainted on his uniform. After, Shukhov stands by Tzesar, who is smoking a cigarette. Fetuikov approaches and asks for a puff of the cigarette; Tzesar hands the last of his cigarette to Shukhov. As Shukhov smokes he hears someone call out that the guards are forcing the prisoners to take off their undershirts during their search.

The security chief, Lieutenant Volkovoi, comes out, which encourages the guards to be especially savage during the search. Volkovoi orders the prisoners to open their shirts, and Shukhov wonders what they are searching for. The intensive search causes a gap in the line, so the guards start to move through the prisoners more quickly. Shukhov, who is in regulation, is confident during his search, but Tzesar and Buinovsky are both caught with contraband civilian garments. Buinovsky accuses the guards of not behaving “like communists,” and Volkovoi gives Buinovsky 10 days in the guardhouse as punishment. After the prisoners are counted, escorts carrying machine guns move them through the gates.