thanks than a simple^thank you.^ However, on this one day Shukhov^s humanitarianismpaid off once again and the captain rewarded Shukhov by givinghim his meal. Situations like these gave Ivan Denisovich Shukhova great deal of hope. Apart from the hopefulness of IvanDenisovich and his good-natured, peasant cunning, ^we feel in hima man of goodwill whose spirit is not filled with bitterness,despite the crying injustice of his punishment and despite, too,the inhuman conditions of life in the so-called corrective laborcamp^ (Levitzky 3300). Often, after eating, Shukhov would findhope and comfort in smoking a cigarette. This, however, was notan easy task. Tobacco was a very rare and precious commodity inthe camps. While gang 104 was working at the power plant Shukhovhad had the desire to smoke and had borrowed just enough tobaccofrom a generous Estonian. Later in the day, after Shukhov hadsaved the captains place in line and had eaten his dinner and thecaptains portion as well, he went and spent two precious rubleson a small amount of tobacco. Shukhov^s generosity,humanitarianism and hope is displayed when ^he pulled out hispouch. He took out as much tobacco as he^d borrowed earlier thatday, reached it over to the Estonian in the top bunk across fromhim, and said ^Thanks^^ (Solzhenitysn 183). The fact that somuch pleasure and joy is derived from food and tobacco makes IvanDenisovich Shukhov a very hopeful character. Solzhenitsyn presents the reader with an average day in thelife of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. A day remarkably similar to theother three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days whichShukhov has spent in the forced labor camp. This day was filledwith small glimpses of hope. Are these glimpses of hopepointless due to the fact that if Shukhov does serve his tenyears the camp will simply add another ten or maybe twenty-fiveyears to his sentence? No, of course that is not the case. Whether, Shukhov spends the res...
