Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s classic novel One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich, written in 1962, was first published in the Soviet Literary Magazine. During its time, nothing like it had ever been published before. It openly discusses the oppression of the Stalinist regime and shows the cruelty prisoners faced through out the camps and gulogs. The stories setting is in a Stalinist labor camp in the 1950’s, the text describes what a normal day for one of the prisoners is like within these gulogs. In Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich, the main character Shukhov, is portrayed as nonreligious man who lacks in faith of a creator due to his current circumstances. Shukhov lost faith in hope and in god, but through his foil of Aloysha, a Baptist who is steadfast and sees this imprisonment as a trial and blessing, we see the changes that come to Shukhov’s understanding and faith as the two converse and explain their own perspectives to one another about their situation. This is shown to be a significant part because it portrays the emotional and religious strength that progresses throughout the novel within the main character. In literature, a foil is a character that has qualities that proves to contrast with other characters in the text as seen between Shokhov and Aloysha the Baptist. In the novel written by Solzhenitsyn, One day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich, the character of Alyoshka acts as a foil to Ivan and serves to heighten the reader's awareness of the change in Ivan's attitude towards religious faith.
When the author first introduces us to Aloysha we see that he is a very religious person who’s faith in god is evident and this makes him contrast to other characters within the novel, Solzhenitsyn highlights his strong attachment to his Christian belief and Aloysha was a character created to portray religion. The reader is introduced to Aloysha early within the novel and is described as sanitary and steadfast in faith as seen in page 20, “Alyoshka, Shukhov's clean and tidy neighbor, who was reading from a notebook in which he'd copied out half the New Testament” (pg. 20). By doing this, Solzhenitsyn gives the reader a description for a character who is religious in this novel and pure, as the reader is introduced to most of the characters they would notice the lack of any religious ties. This is due to how people lived during the communist era under the Stalinist regime, as there was a law that implemented state atheism and that religion segregated people and all people must be the same by all aspect.
As the prisons further weakened the prisoner’s faith in god, it only made it stronger within Aloysha and we see this strength when he proclaims to the other prisoners who spoke about freedom “What good is a freedom to you? If you’re free your faith will soon be chocked by thorns. Be glad you’re in prison. Here you have time to think about your soul” (Pg. 87) Unlike the other men who are imprisoned, Alyoshka finds that his time in prison helps nourish the soul and replenishes the body’s quench for God. The reason for this is because of the solidarity in which is imposed on the prisoners and all outside distractions are gone which allows for more concentration and focus on religion. There are neither temptations nor desires that may be fulfilled within the gulogs and the prisoners are at constant work and sleep being a luxury. Alyosha sees his time imprisoned as a positive thing, even when no one around him can find a good aspect or reason of wanting to be there.
To Shukhov, Aloyshas strong and stable relationship with God seem to be somewhat unhealthy and bizarre. “Alyosha, who was standing next to Shukhov, gazed at the sun and looked happy, a smile on his lips. What had he to be happy about? His cheeks were sunken, he lived strictly on his rations, he earned nothing. He spent all his Sundays muttering with the other Baptists. They shed the hardships of camp life like water off a duck's back” (pg. 36)Shukhov was a simple man who wanted nothing more than the freedom that he deserved but Aloysha made him question whether he really wanted the freedom that he so dreamed about throughout the day. Though he is not a man of strong religious devotion, unlike his neighbor, Aloysha he is confused about his own religious needs but remains endearing towards the daily work trying to stay on good terms with those around him. Shukhov finds his survival in these camps through working and focusing on his own work which makes him well liked within his group.
Solzhenitsyn choice in Aloysha as a bunk roommate from Shukhov, was strategically chosen to allow this contrast to be formed between the two. As the novel progresses, we see how Aloysha’s religious and spiritual connection with God slowly, but surely begins to rub off onto Shukhov. As up until then, Shukhov had faith in only the Russian workers but his ideas and thoughts begin to change in perspectives as he widens his view on the things around him. He lived and worked for this life and wanted freedom for a long time so he could go back and help his family who were suffering under the harsh conditions of the communist regime. Aloysha on the other hand saw the futility in the situation and accepted it thereby choosing to live the rest of his life dedicated to his religion and this focus allows him to survive differently.
Towards the end of the novel we begin seeing this change that was slowly shifting inside Shukhov. As Shukhov lies in bed wondering things to help pass the time, he lies on his mattress and thinks about why back home women would always fuss over things such as sheets on mattresses that he thought it had no real purpose. To Shukhov, this all seemed like more laundry also meaning more work that people put on themselves. As he laid in his bed thinking about these matters, he thanked God aloud for another day having passed smoothly. Alyoshka, who is near by, over hears Shukhov thank God and asks why Shukhov does not ever pray to God righteously. Shukhovs’ excuse for his lack of prayers to God is that they are never answered and that he had given up on praying for things that never came to be. However, Alyosha explains to him that prayers should be spiritual beliefs rather than something that you do only when you want something to be answered. This causes Shukhov to sit and ponder about his faith in God and he begins to see things more thoughtfully. Surely enough, Alyosha’s words had struck a cord with Shukhov, and he slowly begins to see things through a different lens and perspective enabling him to gain a bit more understanding over his own matters. We see this a little while later in the book, when Shukhov gives up his biscuit to Alyosha not expecting anything in return. Perhaps this is the first time in the novel when Shukhov does something for his spirit and soul rather than his flesh and desires from this materialistic world thus giving evidence to the changes in his ideals.
Solzhenitsyn chose Ivan, the main character, to begin the novel having little belief in god as most people did during the communist era. The reason for this, in my opinion Solzhenitsyn chose to have a progressive main character was to emphasize his spiritual and mental evolution in a way that wouldn't overshadow his other characteristics. He created Aloysha as a representation of religion which many people had long forgotten and by allowing the two characters to be foils of each others it created a form of recognition and understanding of what religion was and how each character survived within these gulogs differently. When Shukhov began to understand religion it affected his behavior and his choice of action which may have allowed him to find a sense of ease in his thoughts and accept his situation by regaining a sense of hope.