Just before he is to be searched prior to his entry back into camp, Ivan discovers the piece of steel in one of his pockets, the piece of steel that he picked up at the worksite in the morning. If the guards find it on him, it will mean ten […]
Read more Summary and Analysis The Risky SearchSummary and Analysis An Unexpected Race Homeward
Now that the men know that they will be the last ones back in camp and the last ones to eat the evening meal, their march homeward is slow and melancholy. Ivan remembers that he had been trying to get on the sicklist that very morning; he decides that it […]
Read more Summary and Analysis An Unexpected Race HomewardSummary and Analysis Ivan Speculates about Faith and Astronomy
Ivan and Klevshin are greeted by derision and curses from the men whom they have kept waiting in the cold. As the ritual of the counting of the prisoners begins, Ivan reveals in a conversation with the Captain that he is indeed a simple, superstitious Russian peasant: he believes that […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Ivan Speculates about Faith and AstronomySummary and Analysis Ivan’s Zealous Perfectionism
Reflecting on the run-in with Der, Ivan concludes that machines cannot be trusted, because they always tend to break down. Meanwhile, the work is proceeding fast, and there is more mortar left than the gang can reasonably use before their return to camp. The other gangs at the worksite have […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Ivan’s Zealous PerfectionismSummary and Analysis Foreman Der Is Put to Shame
Der, the construction foreman, who wants to be promoted to engineer, is enraged about the theft of the roofing-felt which Ivan and Kilgas used earlier in the day to cover the windows of the generator room so that the gang and the mortar would be protected from the freezing wind. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Foreman Der Is Put to ShameSummary and Analysis The Art of Bricklaying
After his story is finished, Tyurin orders his men to work, although the official signal has not yet been given. Ivan, Kilgas, and Klevshin begin to lay bricks on the second story of the unfinished power plant. Once he begins to work, Ivan does not focus on anything except the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis The Art of BricklayingSummary and Analysis Tyurin’s Story
Returning to his workplace, Ivan picks up a small piece of steel, for which he may have some use later, and he puts it into his pocket. Tyurin has managed to get them better work rates, which means more bread for the next five days. Before the signal to return […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Tyurin’s StorySummary and Analysis A Discussion of Art
Ivan enters the office to bring Caesar Markovich his bowl of now-cold mush and finds Caesar engaged in a conversation with prisoner K-123, an old man who has already served twenty years. The two are hotly debating the artistic merits of Sergei Eisenstein’s famous film Ivan the Terrible. Caesar defends […]
Read more Summary and Analysis A Discussion of ArtSummary and Analysis The Midday Meal Caper
The gang suddenly realizes that they have been so preoccupied with their work and talk that they will be late in the food line for the midday meal. Half the day has gone by, and they have not even begun their assigned work. Pavlo, Ivan, and Gopchik secure bowls for […]
Read more Summary and Analysis The Midday Meal CaperSummary and Analysis Ivan Considers his “Treason”
In February of 1942, Ivan’s unit had been surrounded by the German army, without food or ammunition, so Ivan and some of his fellow soldiers had surrendered. A few days later, he and four others escaped from the Germans and made their perilous way back to the Russian lines, with […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Ivan Considers his “Treason”