freewriting propmt #1-3
Question;
Why is the book written in such a unique narrative style, jumping between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd point-of-view? Why did the author do that? How might this style affect reader understanding/interpretation?
Why is the book written in such a unique narrative style, jumping between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd point-of-view? Why did the author do that? How might this style affect reader understanding/interpretation?
All we see
Grammatically, using multiple different types of perspectives in one text is illegal. It makes the readers confusing. It’s not nice. But in the novel “One Day of Ivan Denisovich”, the first, second, and third perspective is always switching around. Although it is usually better to unify the perspective, in the novel of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, this method appears as a very useful technique to present his grand theme of novel. First of all, this novel’s protagonist is Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. The novel follows his one day all the way through, partly from his first person perspective, such as: “Look at that damn stiffed-necked fool”(Solzhenitsyn 15). We all see what Schukov sees, hears, tastes, and thinks. But it does not end there. There are other informations in the book that does not only refer to Shukhov. This novel isn’t only about Shukhov.
Another special use of perspective in this novel is the second person; “you”. In some parts of the novel, to depict detailed emotions, scenery, the author uses “you” to talk to the readers; “You lose your tongue. You lose all desire to speak to anyone”(Solzhenitsyn 27). This technique makes the readers feel as if they were in the scene, feeling what Shukhov and other characters feel. We become the part of the prison, and we see from our own point of view, but as one of the prisoner.
Lastly, the most common type of perspective in this novel is “they, he”. The third person perspective. Solzhenitsyn use this point of view a lot to describe Shukhov’s action from outside, but also to show other character’s actions and feelings, such as the Captain, other prisoners, the guards, etc. For example, the quote “The thought of a prisoner--they’re not free either”(Solzhenitsyn 38) talks about the thought of all prisoners. Or the quote “Tsezar slightly raised the lids that drooped low over his black eyes and looked at Fetiukov. It was because he didn’t want to be interrupted while smoking and asked for a puff that he had taken up a pipe”(Solzhenitsyn 30)., that depicts the inner feelings of a character Tsezar, who is completely different from Shukov. Something that Shukhov would not have known. These perspectives does not only refer to Shukhov. Now the author talks about the multiple perspective of the prison.
Here we’ve seen many perspectives used as a technique to show us different aspects of different characters. Why did the author do this? The answer is simple. As I said in the second paragraph, this story isn’t only about Shukhov. First, in the introduction of the book, we saw that this novel was written from an anti-stalinist in an stalinist society, to break the fence of GULAG. A prison that never had been public before. Here I see the main theme of this novel. The author Alexander Solzhenitsyn used multiple perspectives as a technique to describe multiple different aspects of the prison GULAG. This story isn’t only about Shukhov, but it’s about the whole GULAG.
Another special use of perspective in this novel is the second person; “you”. In some parts of the novel, to depict detailed emotions, scenery, the author uses “you” to talk to the readers; “You lose your tongue. You lose all desire to speak to anyone”(Solzhenitsyn 27). This technique makes the readers feel as if they were in the scene, feeling what Shukhov and other characters feel. We become the part of the prison, and we see from our own point of view, but as one of the prisoner.
Lastly, the most common type of perspective in this novel is “they, he”. The third person perspective. Solzhenitsyn use this point of view a lot to describe Shukhov’s action from outside, but also to show other character’s actions and feelings, such as the Captain, other prisoners, the guards, etc. For example, the quote “The thought of a prisoner--they’re not free either”(Solzhenitsyn 38) talks about the thought of all prisoners. Or the quote “Tsezar slightly raised the lids that drooped low over his black eyes and looked at Fetiukov. It was because he didn’t want to be interrupted while smoking and asked for a puff that he had taken up a pipe”(Solzhenitsyn 30)., that depicts the inner feelings of a character Tsezar, who is completely different from Shukov. Something that Shukhov would not have known. These perspectives does not only refer to Shukhov. Now the author talks about the multiple perspective of the prison.
Here we’ve seen many perspectives used as a technique to show us different aspects of different characters. Why did the author do this? The answer is simple. As I said in the second paragraph, this story isn’t only about Shukhov. First, in the introduction of the book, we saw that this novel was written from an anti-stalinist in an stalinist society, to break the fence of GULAG. A prison that never had been public before. Here I see the main theme of this novel. The author Alexander Solzhenitsyn used multiple perspectives as a technique to describe multiple different aspects of the prison GULAG. This story isn’t only about Shukhov, but it’s about the whole GULAG.
work cited
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and Eric Bogosian. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Trans. Ralph Parker. New York, NY: New American Library, 2009. Print.