Comparison

Last semester in World Since, we read the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,

which dealt with similar themes as Slaughterhouse Five. After reading Slaughterhouse Five, I

noticed a difference in how each book dealt with the concept of dignity.

Here’s a basic summary of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: It follows a rather eventful

day for a man named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov at a Soviet imposed labor camp. Ivan is

Russian himself, but was accused of being a spy due to him being captured by the Germans.

For efficiency, the prisoners were split into squads, and Ivan was a respected member of Gang

104.

Slaughterhouse Five portrays the ease in which dignity can be taken away. In general, the

American soldiers lack dignity through their largely immoral ways and poor health

conditions. A cook at the prison even claims, “All the real soldiers are dead.” Analyzing

specific characters delves deeper into this theme. Roland Weary grew up with people

constantly “ditching” him, and was, and is, a revenge-seeking bully. As a soldier, he is just as

pathetic as Billy, but his strong patriotic values created his own dreams of grandeur. After

becoming ill from walking in the wooden clogs, he tells another soldier that it was Billy’s

fault and to seek revenge on him. Weary lacks dignity on every level, and his upbringing most

likely took it away from him. Billy also lacks dignity, but in a different manner. From the

start of his time in the war, in situations where he was saved, he didn't even want to be saved.

His urgency for survival was not really present. Vonnegut has a complex take on dignity, and

Billy’s lack of dignity is an example of this take. Billy never wanted to fight in the war in the

first place; he was drafted. Vonnegut uses his characters’ interactions, especially inter-

country, to show that war causes a loss of dignity.

With One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, it is very clear that keeping dignity in tact is

important to the respectable characters. Survival is the number one goal for the prisoners, and Ivan

only uses moral and honorable means to make sure he survives. He is resourceful, which ends up

being his greatest tool. Moral compromises are acceptable to a certain degree due to the

circumstances the prisoners are in, as Ivan sometimes uses his position to bully and swindle people.

He wants to become the “ideal prisoner” or make the best out of his situation. Characters whose

actions aren’t dignified are looked down upon by the other prisoners. One of Gang 104’s members,

Fetiukov, literally scrounges for food scraps and tobacco and is not respected by Ivan in particular.